6 October 2011
I was interested to read John Kennedy’s recent article in Silicon Republic, “Welcome to the era of the data scientist”. In the article, Kennedy highlights the dawn of a new breed of data management and analysis experts, and predicts an explosion of data “in the coming years”, and a future requirement for data scientists.
While I agree with the concept of a data explosion, the prediction seems a little late. The data explosion has already happened – but rather than being one discrete, explosive incident, tends to be a series of ongoing explosions, as greater volumes of data become available. Indeed, with the continuing growth in the movement towards open data, organisations have more access to data than ever before!
Kennedy is right to assert that the “spiraling volumes of data” are a challenge. eSpatial’s own experience has made it abundantly clear that while data has a great deal of potential value, unlocking that value can only happen when an organisation does something with the data. Otherwise, it’s just unused information.
At the same time, huge volumes of data also present us with great opportunities. Now more than ever before in history, we have access to data that has the potential to answer so many of our questions. We all want deeper insight into what makes our organisation tick – because drawing actionable insights from data enables us to make significant steps forward.
Kennedy’s reference to “the big data diet” calls for new ways to “digest” data, and mentions geospatial analysis. He asks readers to imagine “…a world where a mortgage bank uses GPS technology as a standard part of its risk assessment process, overlaying foreclosure and default data with the location of loans on Google Maps so that it can analyse its business in a geospatial context”.
In fact, geospatial analysis of banking data isn’t relegated to a far-off, imaginary future – it’s happening right now. And it isn’t just limited to financial institutions – organisations from every conceivable industry and sector have either already embraced geospatial analysis, or are on their way to doing so.
What these organisations aren’t doing, however, is manually inputting data onto Google Maps. If you truly take data – and geospatial analysis – seriously, it becomes clear that the sheer volume of data available makes manual activity unmanageable.
Not only is it unmanageable – but it’s also totally unnecessary, now that Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery has made enterprise-grade geospatial analytical tools – called Geographic Information System (GIS) software – available.
In the past GIS software always required an in-house server environment or desktop licenses – and a hefty CAPEX budget – so its use was limited to organisations for whom geospatial analysis was a core activity.
SaaS delivery, with its flexibility and low-cost, subscription-based pricing has geospatial analytical tools available to organisations who never could have dreamed of purchasing the software previously. Organisations who really want to leverage their data fully are already embracing SaaS-based GIS as a valuable addition to their data analytics toolset.
At eSpatial, we’ve been fortunate enough to witness the rise in demand for geospatial analytical tools first-hand – from the thousands of prospective customers who have contacted us about using eSpatial OnDemand GIS™, our SaaS-based GIS software.
Our experience has clearly shown us that, as Kennedy says, “companies that embrace the big data challenge…will move ahead of the pack”. Every day, our customers teach us new and novel ways of leveraging data to deliver measurable business results – and talk to us about the value that they gain from using our software.
Our (free) advice to organisations who haven’t yet embraced data – or who don’t believe that geospatial analysis will deliver the value it promises? Start now, before it’s too late! We’d love to help you.
- Philip O’Doherty, CEO, eSpatial
Find out more about how geospatial analysis will deliver results for your organisation
Let us map a sample of your data to demonstrate the value of geospatial analysis for your organisation. Request a custom demo of eSpatial OnDemand GIS today!
