Once upon a time, map-making lay in the purview of professional cartographers. Geospatial data analysis was only available to trained analysts using specialized tools. Over the past 25 years, we have seen a dramatic transformation in the geospatial industry, as geospatial data has become democratized and widely available.
The first democratization shift marked the move towards digital maps. Maps became instantly available, personalized, broadly accessible — and free. This phase reached its culmination with the advent of street-level imagery and 3D photographic imagery, giving people the ability to truly visualize a location.
In the second democratization shift, maps and mapping data became the ingredients for customized applications. Anyone could access map imagery or data using Azure Geospatial APIs or Google Maps APIs. Businesses used this data to model their customer behavior and understand mining and drilling opportunities. The users were no longer geospatial analysts; instead, they were business analysts who relied on geospatial data to do their jobs.
“Data accessibility fuels transparency, builds trust and supports faster decision-making.”
Expanding knowledge base
Today, we are witnessing the emergence of a new wave of democratization, as governments realize the value of delivering geospatial data directly to consumers. For example, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, health departments around the world are releasing daily data about virus testing rates and vaccination rates directly to consumers. This raw data, in turn, is enabling broad analyses of disadvantaged populations, transportation needs and disparities, digital access needs, and health equity. This geospatial data can be imported into a variety of tools to analyze and contextualize the information, further broadening the knowledge base available to consumers, planners, aid agencies, and legislators.
Geospatial data is now accessible to everyone, regardless of the extent of their geospatial knowledge. Standard data formats, such as those developed by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation, open source tools and APIs (Application Programming Interface), and open markup languages, have made data import, export and exchange easy. Open Web tools support the rendering of map data and live query of rich datasets. Finally, Cloudbased computation and storage, and analytics tools, make largescale geospatial data processing possible for all developers.
Enabling innovation
We have seen that the democratization of geospatial data enables and sparks innovation. Consider how many transformative companies were enabled by affordable maps in the first wave of geospatial democratization. Consider how much business innovation was enabled by utilizing large datasets supported in the second wave. Now, as raw geospatial data is released and is accessible through open source tools, startups can move nimbly to build solutions, experiment and create value.
Democratization of geospatial data is good for consumers, businesses, and society. Time and again we have seen that data accessibility fuels transparency, builds trust, supports faster and better decision-making, and fosters innovation.
