In 2024, geospatial will be defined by convergence, cooperation, and collaboration to meet the challenges looming ahead. Climate Change has become a reality with the temperature exceeding the Paris limit of 1.5 degrees.
Geopolitics is disturbing global cooperation for sustainable development. War in Europe and the Middle East poses humanitarian and environmental challenges.
Meanwhile, space has been littered with junk and ever-growing constellations vying for superiority in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
It is interesting to observe that the geospatial industry is finally acknowledging that people-centric solutions are the need of the hour. Amid all the razzle-dazzle of technology, the main purpose of geospatial solutions is to create a better world for people to inhabit.
The emerging reality of Climate Change is forcing administrations to acknowledge that Sustainable Development is no longer just the subject of erudite seminar papers but a burning real-world necessity.
The recent IPPC report has highlighted the symbiotic and dangerous relationship between unsustainable development patterns and escalating climate change.
Sustainable Development is the best long-term solution to Climate Change mitigation and adaptation. All 17 of the SDGs can significantly contribute to major climate change factors such as energy systems, urban and Infrastructure, land systems, society livelihoods, and economies and industry both in terms of mitigation and adaptation. Each of these major areas uses geospatial systems but in silos.
Geospatial has evolved technologically by using the best available from computers to Expert Systems, IoT, Big Data, and AI to name a few. A higher level of convergence is seen with Business Intelligence, BIM, ERP, and Digital Twins.
However, the convergence at the societal level is yet to mature. In 1999, the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, which is the basis of all geospatial activities, stated that the impact and influence of GIS on individuals and societies needs to be studied.
For this, it is necessary to draw upon advances in cognitive and information science, and also from more specialized research fields such as computer science, statistics, mathematics, and psychology, and contribute to progress in those fields.
While the fields of computer science, statistics, and mathematics are well addressed as of today, the study of human-technology interaction is not understood very well. This does lead to the rejection or partial acceptance of projects. Smart Cities is one such example of failure to enthuse the common public.
Smart cities have transformed into Digital Twins but that is not enough. There is a move for a Digital Twin of the Earth which might also address among others the global impact of Climate Change.
Meteorology has long recognized that a better understanding of weather and climate can only happen if the earth and its atmosphere are considered as a single interactive system. Sustainable development is citizen-focused and this requires attention to socio-economic factors and individual psychology.
Thus, geospatial must address research in political science and anthropology, drawing on those fields in studies of geographic information and society.
The war in Europe is impacting countries hitherto reliant on Russia for energy. Germany, once the powerhouse of manufacturing, is feeling the pinch as energy costs have risen due to sanctions on Russia. It now has to import electricity at a higher costs as renewables are unable to meet the demand.
The alternative, to re-activate mothballed thermal power plants, will have adverse effects on global warming. Apart from this, there is a huge environmental and human toll attached to the destruction of infrastructure in Ukraine and Gaza.
Rebuilding the infrastructure will be a huge geospatial opportunity. But it should also be noted that transport, industry, and buildings are the biggest contributors of greenhouse gases.
The Group of 20 or G20 has evolved to become the torchbearer of two-thirds of the global population, accounting for around 85% of gross world product (GWP), 75% of international trade, and 60% of the world’s land area.
The group in its 2023 summit decided to work toward a human-centric development approach that aligns with the concerns of the Global South, including addressing strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth, and accelerating progress on SDGs.
To achieve this, digital public infrastructure and multilateral institutions need to be aligned towards the needs and aspirations of the 21st Century.
2024 thus could be a transformational year that can set the tone and pace for the use of geospatial systems for inclusive human development.
Disclaimer: Views Expressed are Author's Own. Geospatial World May or May Not Endorse it
