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- People across the globe are increasingly relying on innovations in location technology to help make those shifts.
- What draws so many professionals, academics, software developers, data scientists, and students to this event, the Esri User Conference, is the idea of transformational change and the crucial role location technology plays to make a difference.
Our world today faces a complex mix of great potential and great uncertainty. With it comes opportunity for transformational change in business, government, and other industries. People across the globe are increasingly relying on innovations in location technology to help make those shifts. Europe’s largest port uses a digital twin for real-time situational awareness to transform its approach to shipping and reinvent the supply chain.
One of the world’s foremost research labs applies machine learning to generate predictive models in its work to understand and address climate change. Engineers restoring New York City’s Catskill Aqueduct, the source for 40 percent of the city’s water, integrate engineering with mapping to improve efficiency and reduce costs. These stories, and thousands of others, illustrate powerful opportunities to use location technology to face changes.
Each year at this time, stories such as these come to light as more than 18,000 location intelligence users—technology experts and practitioners who work with geographic information system (GIS) software, data, and apps gather in San Diego. This migration happens every summer for a week of workshops, training, and networking.
For decades this event has been a place to showcase forward-thinking work being done to solve a spectrum of global challenges. At last year’s event, the United Parcel Service (UPS) discussed how location intelligence powers company operations and provides business wisdom through advanced spatial analytics;
the City of Los Angeles presented their use of open data to spur innovation in government, business, and nonprofit organizations; and the Audubon Society shared its pioneering approach to data sharing and conservation through interactive mapping.
What draws so many professionals, academics, software developers, data scientists, and students to this event, the Esri User Conference, is the idea of transformational change and the crucial role location technology plays to make a difference. Esri designed this year’s User Conference around the theme, “What’s Next.” We are excited to welcome speakers from the following organizations who are showing the world what’s next.
Transportation Automation through IoT: Europe’s largest port, the Port of Rotterdam, will present its efforts to develop a global network of ports and supply chain partners who can use the Internet of Things to automate and optimize operations. Rotterdam uses a digital twin as a basis for real-time situational awareness of all things static, moving, human-driven, or autonomous. The port pulls together location and sensor data to provide a real-time current view for managers, operators, safety personnel, and others.
Geospatial Mapping: Researchers, scientists and technical staff at the Crowther Lab in Switzerland are using geospatial mapping to combat climate change, biodiversity loss, and rural poverty.
By employing location intelligence and mapping technologies, the Crowther Lab combines satellite information and ground observations to convey the status of forests. They apply machine learning approaches to generate predictive models for a detailed understanding of our biosphere’s spatial and temporal patterns.
Workflow Integration: Here in the US, infrastructure requires urgent upgrades. Mott MacDonald is charged with engineering the restoration of New York City’s Lower Catskill Aqueduct, responsible for providing 550 million gallons of water to 11 million customers each day. The firm integrated building information management (BIM) workflows with the broader geographic context provided by GIS. The resulting digital inspection process will help reduce engineering costs and restore the 100-year-old aqueduct to a state of good repair and long-term operational reliability.
This work is powered by science, using the discipline of geography to analyze staggering amounts of data. Our users apply geographic thinking to solve problems—combining location information, big data, and algorithms in a branch of data science called spatial analytics. As spatial analytics and location intelligence continue to advance, I am seeing leaders derive great value across their organizations by delivering this insight at the point of decision making using easily intuited apps and dash-boards.
Software engineers have re-envisioned the mapping experience into Smart Mapping: data-driven workflows, intelligent defaults, coordinated scale ranges, new thematic renderers, and streamlined interfaces. Smart Mapping allows experts and even novices to explore and understand data faster and to make maps with confidence and ease. These smart maps then become powerful tools for communication and collaboration.
Many cities have generated 3D models at city scale to aid planning efforts. These models often inform engineering and construction firms in their preparations for project work (roads, bridges, buildings, and other infrastructure). Increasingly, these firms combine BIM and GIS software in their workflows. This direct connection allows designers to consider the geographic context of building projects and to model environmental impacts. This results in more informed designs and iterative alternatives that optimize environmental integration to increase a city’s overall resiliency.
Almost fifty years ago, my wife Laura and I created Esri with the goal of using the science-based knowledge of location intelligence to guide better decision-making. We are grateful that these tools have gained momentum globally and are now in the hands of those who would shape our future in business, government, and education.
When I attend the Esri User Conference, and when I come to work each day, I am amazed, inspired, and quite frankly, humbled, by the work of individuals and organizations who use our GIS and spatial analytics tools to tackle the world’s most complex problems. We recognize technology as a powerful force that can foster greater good in the world, and GIS in particular as a valuable tool to help us understand and cope with changes and challenges.
