The document discusses the evolution of geospatial technology and its transition from a niche field to mainstream usage, highlighting advancements in real-time data, crowdsourcing, and location-based services. It emphasizes the importance of data sharing, standards, and the impact of user-generated content on mapping and geospatial analysis. Ultimately, it portrays a future where geospatial data plays a critical role in various sectors including smart grids and public service.

1. The Geospatial
Revolution
Peter Batty
Ubisense
KMS
Copenhagen, March 25, 2010
1

2. Overview
• Mainstream at last!
• A real-time, multimedia view of the world
• Data sharing
• Crowdsourcing
• Economics / business models
2

3. GIS was a specialized backroom
technology for many years
3

4. “1995: the year that GIS disappeared”
Doug Seaborn
AM/FM conference, 1992
4

5. Disruptive technology
Functionality / lo gy
performance c hno
he d te
bl is
E sta Mainstream
Market
requirements
lo gy
chno
e te
ru ptiv
Dis
Time
5

6. Now much easier to
include location data
Free or cheap Location
Geocoding
map data tracking
6

7. Finally, geospatial data is
just another data type
flickr.com/photos/26664862@N04/2499573972/
7

8. The neogeographers
Google
Microsoft
Open Source
... and more
8

9. Geo moving to
the mainstream
1996 MapQuest
2005 Google Earth
(Keyhole)
2005 Google Maps
9

10. Fun and cool
Performance
Ease of use
API
Continued innovation
10

11. 3D buildings
Birds eye view
Photosynth
SQL Server
11

12. Strong in database
Strong in web mapping
Weaker on desktop
Data improving fast
Spans both “GIS” and
“neogeo” spaces
12

13. “But these new systems are just simple
web mapping, they’re not GIS”
13

14. Cartography
Andy Allan, Cloudmade
14

15. 15

16. Data creation and maintenance
Upcoming Mapzen editor
Cloudmade
16

17. Data creation and maintenance
“Walking Papers” for OpenStreetMap Stamen Design
Here’s a print of Chinatown, San Francisco. 17

18. Geospatial
analysis
Stamen Design
18

19. Geospatial analysis
FortiusOne / GeoCommons
19

20. http://flic.kr/p/78H5Z8!
20

21. A real-time, multimedia
view of the world
21

22. October 19, 2009
22

23. 23

24. Microsoft Photosynth
24

25. Google Streetview
25

26. maps
Microsoft Virtual Earth
Manhattan
26

27. C3 Technologies
Las Vegas
27

28. prototypegame.org
Manhattan
28

29. Live
Video
Live
29

30. The Sensor Web
Need a spatial context to
make sense of all this
30

31. Location sensing
UWB GPS
Wi-Fi RFID
Cell towers
31

32. New TomTom traffic speed dataset
derived from
600 billion
speed readings from users
real time data within
3 minutes
flickr.com/photos/rutlo/3164449930/
32

33. location based services
are real at last!
33

34. Smart Grid
“The Internet brought to our electric system”
Storage Renewable Energy
Demand Response Intelligent devices and
control systems
34

35. Will have the ability to know where everything is
- and what is happening - all the time
35

36. Data Sharing
36

37. Geodata standards
KML
GML
geoRSS
WMS Shape
geoJSON WFS
Lightweight Heavyweight
Mashups OGC*
Google Search Portals
37

38. Clemens Portele
at Geoweb 2009
“So far the impact of SDIs on the integration of data as a
ubiquitous component of the web seems low”
“There is not evidence that SDIs have increased the
market volume of government data by significant amount”
38

39. Clemens Portele
at Geoweb 2009
“Current OGC standards are only really accessible to geo
experts, not easily from broader web community”
“OGC web services based largely on an architecture and
approach to web services developed 10 years ago”
39

40. 3 rules for evolvable systems
Only solutions that produce partial results
when partially implemented can succeed
What is, is wrong
Orgel's Rule: "Evolution is
cleverer than you are".
Evolvable
Centrally designed
Clay Shirky, 1996
shirky.com/writings/evolve.html
40

41. “If a dataset available on the web is in
a format that can't be indexed by
Google, does it make a sound?”
Kevin Wiebe
Safe Software
41

42. Jason Birch
City of Nanaimo
<Picture of Jason>
42

43. 43

44. 44

45. 45

46. 46

47. 47

48. 48

49. “the cloud”
49

50. Crowdsourcing
50

51. Web Web
1.0 2.0
publishing participation
51

52. Wikipedia
52

53. Hurricane Katrina
New Orleans
53

54. Community generated data
scipionus.com
54

55. OpenStreetMap
55

56. December 3, 2007
Google OpenStreetMap
July 7, 2009
56

57. Denver, CO Denver, CO
USA USA
“Mousetrap” junction
of I-25 and I-70
Cape Royal
Grand Canyon, AZ Cropston
USA England
57

58. 200,000+ users
24m km of highways
crazy
34m km of ways
momentum!!
OSM stats from May 2009
NAVTEQ had 18m km of highways in Dec 2007
flickr.com/photos/pimpmasterjazz/2601898276/
58

59. What about quality?
Dr Muki Haklay of UCL
“OSM quality is beyond good enough, it is a product
that can be used for a wide range of activities”
Based on a detailed analysis
http://tinyurl.com/mukiosm
59

60. Landgate
Perth, Western Australia
60

61. 61

62. “The future is user
created data” Google MapMaker
Michael Jones, Google
62

63. 63

64. Database
2007 data
69 countries
11m miles (18m km) of roads
18m points of interest
People “Creating, maintaining and delivering a
comprehensive, high quality map database is a
Field force 700 multi-step, labor-intensive process. We
Central production 270 currently employ over 270 employees in our
centralized production facility and a global
Technology 500 workforce of over 700 geographic analysts in
32 countries”
Total 3349
Financial
Revenue $853m (~€604m)
Data creation & distribution costs $396m (~€280m)
64

65. Crowdsourcing is a paradigm shift for data creation
flickr.com/photos/jamescridland/613445810/
65

66. Economics of data
creation and sharing
66

67. “Information wants
to be free”
67

68. 68

69. 69

70. 70

71. UK Government advised
by Sir Tim Berners Lee
Ordnance Survey medium
and small scale data to be free
(Details being worked out)
71

72. “Our taxes fund the collection of public data -
yet we have to pay again to access it. [Make] it
freely available to stimulate innovation”
The Guardian “Free Our Data” web site
72

73. sadly it’s not that simple ...
Taxes only pay half of the costs (in UK)
Costs are ongoing, not one off
Many competing priorities for tax money
All geodata is not equal
Commercial companies can profit
73

74. Land of the
Free
74

75. I think we should raise taxes
or cut spending on schools to
do better mapping
75

76. 76

77. Missing Pepsi Center!
(Built 10 years ago)!
USGS Topo Map
77

78. TIGER data
US Census Bureau
78

79. The US situation
No large scale “national map”
Utilities and local governments map themselves
Most cities are mapped many times
Significant map inconsistencies
flickr.com/photos/izik/3215303355/
79

80. National Mapping
Agencies!
Cost!
Good product
but expensive!
Free or cheap but
product lacking!
We want to be
here ... !
Product!
80

81. In summary ... a wild ride ahead!
81

82. ?
peter@ebatty.com
geothought.blogspot.com
twitter.com/pmbatty
82