Innovation constantly creates new technologies. Cities should keep up with the modern world by adapting to the latest advances, like geospatial technology. Read about how this tech is helping create the smart cities of the future and how it could impact your life.
Geospatial technology is a range of tech tools that assist with mapping various regions of the planet and their cities. Sometimes people use it to find a specific place, person or object. Other times, they want to locate a point to learn more about something.
How Geospatial Technology Creates Smart Cities
Cities integrating technology like geospatial programs and tools can serve their residents more efficiently. These are a few ways technology can help people.
1. Remote Sensing Detects Residential Needs
Mapping drones watch how the landscape changes and report back anything they find. This is essential to helping residents with things like agriculture. If a section of farmland isn’t producing healthy plants, geospatial technology gets a higher view and assesses the vegetation based on data from previous scans and current environmental influences.
2. Geographic Information Systems Track Water
If you buy a home on a lake, the views make your property worth more, so you can profit if you decide to sell. However, your property value might decrease if that lake dries up. GIS tools continuously monitor where the water goes and resides, so local officials can take action if their water sources start drying up due to local construction or climate change.
3. People Can Stay Healthier
Geospatial technology tools use data from hospitals to identify disease clusters. They can also organize those groups by point of infection, like tainted water or viruses. Collecting and sorting vital information like this can lead to faster public alerts that help people make informed decisions about their well-being.
Take hard water, for example. Since not everyone will know to test for hard water with soap or monitor their water pressure, data collected by geospatial technology is invaluable to public health. As officials review the latest data, they can draft a public announcement to keep everyone healthy.
4. Residents Can Find Local Businesses
Google Maps also counts as geospatial technology. It uses mapping software to present all the roads and businesses in a desired area. You can use that tool to find companies with services your products you need, including their operational hours and websites.
People can better support the local economy when they are more connected with each other and their hometowns. Their quality of life also improves because they feel comforted that they can find anything at home. Geospatial technology brings people and businesses together so the local economy and population thrive.
5. Forecasts Will Be More Accurate
Meteorologists can use geospatial technology advancements to track and predict weather conditions in particular cities. The real-time updates allow residents to make better decisions about outdoor activities. Some geospatial programs even send that information to internet-connected cars so drivers know if they’re about to hit a storm.
The same software also locates forest fires, which meteorologists may track in regions where the blazes are more common. Getting instant updates is crucial to keeping residents safe in emergency environmental situations. Smart cities with geospatial technology are leading the way into a safer, more informed future.
Countries Using Geospatial Infrastructure
The latest Countries Geospatial Readiness Index from 2019 compared the world’s leading countries to see which locations utilize geospatial technology the most. After sifting through data from 50 countries and assigning points based on widespread tech use and the most updated programs, the top 10 rankings were as follows:
- The U.S.
- The U.K.
- Germany
- The Netherlands
- Canada
- Denmark
- China
- Singapore
- Belgium
- Switzerland
The use of geospatial technology nationally and privately is something to note when looking into these rankings. Although the U.S. places highest, it ranks 12th in transportation and 48th in railways, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2019 report on global competitiveness.
For various reasons, other countries are lightyears ahead of the U.S. infrastructure system, but implementing technology to advance sectors plays a significant role. Using tech such as geospatial technology would give industry leaders more relevant data to make crucial decisions about factors like where to build new roads, which roads need repair and where railroads need updating to keep trains operating safely.
Creating Smart Cities
Smart cities are the way of the future, so every country must use geospatial technology to advance. It collects various data to help everyone make more informed decisions about everything, from when to spend time outside to which bridges need repairing. Embracing it on local, state and federal levels would push the U.S. forward and make it more competitive in a tech-focused world.
