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GIS mapping can help facilitate data-driven decisions, improve business performance and the ways in which the technology can be applied in a business setting

Location, location, location - everyone knows how important it is. Many will remember when the first location-based apps, Foursquare, Google Maps and Yelp, were launched. The world was transformed with the use of this technology. Yet despite the continued development of these location-based apps, particularly for the consumer market, when it comes to using location technology and apps to truly unlock and maximise data, the business world isn't using geographic information system (GIS) technology to its full potential.

It's not that businesses aren't using location technology. On the contrary. Many of today's digital businesses have location technology at the heart of their service offerings, just think of app based business such as Uber, Tinder, Facebook. The list of location-centric services and products goes on. However, it is also fair to say that the majority of businesses have a significant and untapped opportunity when it comes to using GIS technology.

>See also: 5 steps to digital transformation using GIS

It is sitting in the swathes of data they already have and gather about their services, products, customers, staff, competitors and marketplace. Although many use and analyse this data to an extent, very few are unlocking or even aware of the true value of their data if they bring it to life through GIS mapping technology.

Business data brought to live

Of course, some businesses are leading the way and using GIS to unlock data. Starbucks takes the location of its stores very seriously and making a data-driven decision on the planned location for every one of its cafés is critical to its success and profitability. GIS technology allows Starbucks to undertake in-depth analysis of each planned new store to understand factors such as the peaks and troughs of footfall numbers during the day, the demographic make-up of the local customer base, and the extent of competition in the area. All this and more is brought to life through GIS mapping to take guess work and gut feel out of critical business decisions for Starbucks and unlock the data it already has.

Businesses can take a similar approach when planning a relocation of offices. GIS technology enables businesses to understand how relocating will impact its workforce. For example, if a company is currently located in the centre of a major city but is considering a move to a business park on the outskirts instead, understanding how will this impact the commutes of their employees and their accessibility to clients should be central to the criteria and decision to move. GIS will ensure this information is available before a decision is made, rather than discovering the downsides after relocation has happened.

>See also: GIS: a move towards gender neutrality in IT

And only a few weeks ago a bespoke computer programme using the ArcGIS platform acted as one of the key components to managing public safety during the Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, USA. In a unified command centre, roughly 80 local, state and federal agencies gained access to a 3D map showing all the areas impacted by the sporting event.

Equipped with real-time situational awareness, public safety bodies were ready to provide accurate information to first responders in case of an emergency. We may be used to seeing apps such as this on the latest Netflix crime series, and the most progressive organisations are now starting to make these apps a reality.

Limitless possibilities

The role of GIS and the innovation of location applications in the B2B space are only limited by the developers' imagination. GIS technology can and will act as a catalyst to improved business performance and growth simply by unlocking the data that already exists within the enterprise.

One disruptive technology which has started integrating with GIS is augmented reality (AR). Currently this technology is most prevalent in the gaming industry, but it is starting to bleed across and span a broad spectrum of business and vertical markets.

>See also: GIS tech to help the challenges posed by population growth

In the retail environment for example, we have already seen AR and GIS working in tandem to drive sales through a new app that recognises an interactive advert and instantly informs the customer of the closest store with the product in stock and offers directions on how to get there. It is this type of innovative application development that will see GIS continue to develop and drive the cutting edge of business processes.

Once any business starts to understand how GIS works, it is easy to envision how a whole range of applications will improve operational performance and efficiency. In the utility sector for example, using AR and GIS simultaneously, it is possible to create a digital representation of any area using satellite imagery.

A utility company needing to monitor and maintain pylons could see a digital map of exactly where each pylon is located and, using machine learning and neural networks, highlight those which require repair and attention perhaps as a result of storm damage.

Rather than sending teams to check each pylon, instead, the GIS mapping would allow the team to plan an accurate and efficient route which only takes in those pylons which need their attention. The time and cost savings would be significant to say the least, let alone the increase workforce productivity and safety.

>See also: Drone technologies establish evolved GIS

The role and use of GIS technology can be applied in almost every area of business. Whether in healthcare and defence sectors, for example, where diverse estate and asset management is a real challenge that can be solved by GIS mapping. Local government and town councils are another GIS use case example. Here GIS is being used to create and support smart communities whether in small rural towns or larger, urban cities.

The location technology is helping to bring citizens and government together and the mobile apps for example allow communication outside of opening times or waiting on switchboards. Citizens benefit from a better experience and councils benefit from real time data and information in powerful dashboards to improve and anticipate service delivery.

GIS - just one step away

From increasing security levels to analysing where to get the most footfall at conferences, developers have one of the most exciting career opportunities open to them now in form of GIS and location-based app development for business. There are vast commercial and operational benefits that can be applied to almost any app imaginable, whether customer facing or entirely internal.

>See also: An introduction to GIS use cases

Customer and employee expectations will continue to evolve to use this technology as a matter of course. The good news is that the adoption of this technology is not a big leap that could prove too difficult for businesses.

Today's organisations have already grown used to collating the data that are needed and many are likely to be already using location technology to some degree. From here all it takes is one simple step to harness GIS and unlock the truly transformational potential of business data.
Sourced Sean McGee, developer evangelist at Esri UK

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Location-based apps: Unlocking the true value of your business data

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GIS mapping can help facilitate data-driven decisions, improve business performance and the ways in which the technology can be applied in a business setting Location, location, location - everyone knows how important it is. Many will remember when the first location-based apps, Foursquare, Google Maps and Yelp, were launched.

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Location, location, location - we all know how important it is. However, when it comes to using location technology and apps to truly unlock and maximise data, the business world simply isn't using geographic information system (GIS) technology to its full potential.

There's a huge trick being missed every day and therefore there's significant operational and commercial opportunity for almost every business large or small, and it's sitting in data they already have and gather.

It's not that businesses aren't using location technology. On the contrary. Many of today's digital businesses have location technology at the heart of their service offerings, just think of app based business such as Uber, Tinder, Facebook. The list of location-centric services and products goes on. It's fair to say location technology and specifically GIS technology is already proven in demand and performance up to a point.

However, it is also fair to say that the majority of businesses have a significant and untapped opportunity when it comes to using GIS technology. Businesses and organisations, regardless of size, have and continue to amass swathes of data relating their business, services, products, customers, staff, competitors and marketplace. Although many use and analyse this data to an extent, very few are unlocking or even aware of the true value of their data if they bring it to life through GIS mapping technology.

Business facing GIS

Of course, some businesses are leading the way and using GIS to unlock data. Starbucks takes the location of its stores very seriously and making a data-driven decision on the planned location for every one of its cafés is critical to its success and profitability. GIS technology allows Starbucks to undertake in-depth analysis of each planned new store to understand factors such as the peaks and troughs of footfall numbers during the day, the demographic make-up of the local customer base, and the extent of competition in the area. All this and more is brought to life through GIS mapping to take guess work and gut feel out of critical business decisions for Starbucks and unlock the data it already has.

Businesses can take a similar approach when planning a relocation of offices. GIS technology enables businesses to understand how relocating will impact its workforce. For example, if a company is currently located in the centre of a major city but is considering a move to a business park on the outskirts instead, understanding how will this impact the commutes of their employees and their accessibility to clients should be central to the criteria and decision to move. GIS will ensure this information is available before a decision is made, rather than discovering the downsides after relocation has happened.

The possibilities are endless

The role of GIS and the innovation of location applications in the B2B space are only limited by the developers' imagination. GIS technology can and will act as a catalyst to improved business performance and growth simply by unlocking the data that already exists within the enterprise.

One disruptive technology which has started integrating with GIS is augmented reality (AR). Currently this technology is most prevalent in the gaming industry, but it is starting to bleed across and span a broad spectrum of business and vertical markets. In the retail environment for example, we have already seen AR and GIS working in tandem to drive sales through a new app that recognises an interactive advert and instantly informs the customer of the closest store with the product in stock and offers directions on how to get there. It is this type of innovative application development that will see GIS continue to develop and drive the cutting edge of business processes.

Once any business starts to understand how GIS works, it is easy to envision how a whole range of applications will improve operational performance and efficiency. In the utility sector for example, using AR and GIS simultaneously, it is possible to create a digital representation of any area using satellite imagery. A utility company needing to monitor and maintain pylons could see a digital map of exactly where each pylon is located and, using machine learning and neural networks, highlight those which require repair and attention perhaps as a result of storm damage. Rather than sending teams to check each pylon, instead, the GIS mapping would allow the team to plan an accurate and efficient route which only takes in those pylons which need their attention. The time and cost savings would be significant to say the least, let alone the increase workforce productivity and safety.

The role and use of GIS technology can be applied in almost every area of business. Whether in healthcare and defence sectors, for example, where diverse estate and asset management is a real challenge that can be solved by GIS mapping. Local government and town councils are another GIS use case example. Here GIS is being used to create and support smart communities whether in small rural towns or larger, urban cities. The location technology is helping to bring citizens and government together and the mobile apps for example allow communication outside of opening times or waiting on switchboards. Citizens benefit from a better experience and councils benefit from real time data and information in powerful dashboards to improve and anticipate service delivery.

GIS - take one more step

Whether it is to analyse where to get the most footfall at conferences or to increase security levels within the office, developers have one of the most exciting career opportunities open to them now in form of GIS and location-based app development for business in 2018. The commercial and operational benefits of doing so are vast and can be applied to almost any app imaginable, whether customer facing or entirely internal.

Businesses will continue find both customer and employee expectations evolving to use this technology as a matter of course. The good news for businesses and app developers is that the adoption and use of this technology is not a big leap. Businesses already have the data they need and will likely already be using location based technology up to a point.

From here, the message is simple, take one more step with GIS and truly unlock business data to deliver transformational business results.
Sean McGee, Developer Evangelist at Image Credit Niekverlaan / Pixabay

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Location-based apps - taking advantage of untapped opportunities

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Location, location, location - we all know how important it is. However, when it comes to using location technology and apps to truly unlock and maximise data, the business world simply isn't using geographic information system (GIS) technology to its full potential.

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The ongoing use of mobile devices by consumers means that companies have a much better way of tracking where their customers are going. Knowing where they are thanks to geolocation technology means that a new marketing opportunity has emerged that can maximize the return you invest in marketing. Now, companies can leverage geolocation-based marketing to reach out with personalized, local messaging, promotions, and other strategies designed to raise leads and encourage impulse purchases.

A New Language

The marketing language has changed with the introduction of geolocation. First, there is geosocial networking. Consumers commonly use this to check in from their current location on social media sites like Facebook or Foursquare. Second, there are location-based services. Consumers leverage this service to learn what is nearby like a restaurant, shop, or gas station. Also, marketers can offer promotions or messages at just the right time. That's because they have each mobile device's geographic position.

Then, there is what's known as geofencing. This is a marketing tactic that involves putting a virtual perimeter out there. When people enter that with their mobile devices, they then receive specific alerts, messages, or promotions.

Who is Using Geolocation-Based Marketing?

The Location Based Marketing Association generated an infographic from research conducted by The Pew Center that illustrated just how widespread this type of marketing has become due to the increased use of mobile and social location services among consumers. Their findings included the fact that 58% of adults with smartphones have used location-based services while 55% of these have used it for directions or recommendations.

With the majority of adults now using smartphones, there is the potential that more people of all ages and backgrounds will adopt some type of location service or feature. Companies and consumers all over the world use geolocation services. Therefore, this means more opportunities for marketers.

Geolocation: An Evolving Marketing Process

It is also important to understand how technology furthers geolocation services. Sensors are an integral component. This includes Bluetooth Low Energy beacons, microchips, and sensors and microchips that power near-field communications (NFC). It's this technology that also enables mobile payments. There are also geofences, which incorporate technology like GPS, WiFi, electromagnetic fields or RFID.

Beyond technology, marketers still have to be aware of other factors if they want the technology to be effective. That means understanding where your customers are coming from and where they are headed. You'll also need to figure out what gets their attention and admiration. All the technology in the world identifying where a customer does not matter unless the marketer has the context for the various types of experiences that customers go through, it won't yield results. As the technology evolves, a marketer must still be that human point of context that can integrate that very necessary perspective about behavior and customer expectations.

An Immediate Impact

The real impact is in the benefits that this marketing strategy is providing to companies of all sizes and across multiple industries. Here are some of the key ways you can gain an advantage quickly:

Social media sites offer location-based searches that allow you to find prospects by city, region, or country. This is ideal when you have a physical location and want to draw customers to your business. Targeted marketing messages are sent to these prospects. These include a special or promotion as an incentive.

You can receive an alert when customers are in a certain area. This allows you to interact with them. Customers like to know that you are interested in what they are doing. This can quickly increase the engagement level with them, especially if you can tie some reward to it. When they are walking into your store, use a geolocation alert you and send them a greeting with timed promotions or a coupon to increase the chances of them buying while there. Even beyond a purchase then, it can also encourage them to come back again in the future.

Long-Term Benefits

Then, there are advantages that can be achieved over time:

While the ability to incite impulse decisions is a great benefit, the results don't have to always be immediate to get your ROI. For example, the geolocation data leads to a profile of buying habits. This profile shapes future marketing campaigns. This profile can also include dates so that you know when to follow-up with certain customers. An analytics platform assists with developing this profile.

Other information that comes from the geolocation data an tell you where they went in your store and how long they stayed. This also can impact other marketing endeavors, including store layout, in-store promotions, and product placement. This approach improves their experience.

Things to Remember

When it comes to geolocation-based marketing, you still must proceed with caution. While customers like the engagement and attention, they are also very concerned about their privacy and maintaining some distance. That means finding the right balance between respecting those boundaries and taking the available data to do something that enhances customer experiences. A best practice is to use an opt-in arrangement for location-based services. That way, users can choose to agree with this sharing or not. For those that do connect with your business this way, you can target even more precisely as well as engage in new and exciting ways. It also delivers a win-win for a sustained relationship.

When you can personalize the customer experience across channels, you can provide a unique experience that increases customer loyalty and satisfaction. But in order to do that successfully, you'll need to know how. Download the Personalization Playbook for more information on how to make it happen.
Image credit: StockSnap.io

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Geolocation-Based Marketing in 2017: The Impact on Businesses

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The ongoing use of mobile devices by consumers means that companies have a much better way of tracking where their customers are going. Knowing where they are thanks to geolocation technology means that a new marketing opportunity has emerged that can maximize the return you invest in marketing.

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Rishabh Software - An Enterprise Application Development Company

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Location based mobile app development is increasingly being adopted by small and medium businesses (SMBs) world over. They give the consumer immediate access to product or service information, price comparisons, reviews, product alternatives, and several additional mobile commerce options.

These Location based apps offer a competitive advantage to your business by reaching out to potential customers in close proximity, thereby increasing the likelihood of an immediate sale. This can have a major impact on your business, especially if you are a "brick and mortar" establishment, retail or service.

Rishabh Software can help your business deliver GPS-enabled and/or beacon-compatible mobile applications with great UX for your indoor-outdoor location based mobile application. We guarantee to deliver mobile apps with UI that sets you apart from competition, on time and within your budget.

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GPS & Location Based Mobile App Development Services

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Location based mobile app development is increasingly being adopted by small and medium businesses (SMBs) world over. They give the consumer immediate access to product or service information, price comparisons, reviews, product alternatives, and several additional mobile commerce options.

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Much has changed over the last half-decade, but we're not going to focus on it all. Instead, we're talking location, and more specific, social networks utilizing location-based features in a meaningful way.

There are several apps on the market today that have a location-based component - GasBuddy, designed to help consumers share where the best gas prices are; or the omnipresent Uber, transporting us from A to B. Taking this a step further is an app like Geme.io, which plugs us into our current surroundings - here and now. Following are 10 features that are trending up (way up) in the location-based app world:
1) Using the map as an interface instead of a news feed
News feeds are inherently passive and becoming dated. When one makes location a principal component of status updates, photos, or other content, this provides users more context as to what's occurring in real-time. Folks can follow brands, people and trends with location-based updates thus transforming the map into a real-time interface.
2) Notifications, on the spot, when one needs them
Apps can communicate helpful push notifications surrounding deals of the day, dangerous situations, or simply timely info about upcoming events in your local community. No more scrolling to find information, as once it's tagged in a location-based platform, the user is notified on the spot. Just when you need it.
3) Be your own news editor or micro-blogger
Choose what type of information you want to be notified about (no more spamming), and you are in charge (not the platform) by following a person, brand, organization or company. Moreover, you can simply filter away information that's not relevant to you (e.g., "I'm not interested in places with wheel chair access, so I don't want to see that information in my community map.")
4) The Equal Community
Citizen, organization, business or municipality, they're all part of the local community and thus equally privy to timely information (messages, ads, etc.). As the concept of the sharing economy becomes more prevalent everyone will operate freely to inform/promote their goods, services, or relevant information in said local community.
5) Suggestions
This is cool as once the location-based app gets to know you a bit better, the suggestions it spits out will be based on your profile, interests and who you follow.
6) Rewards Programs
In the (near) future, a user operating on a location-based platform will be granted access to location-based rewards programs providing deals and points just by walking into a local business.
7) Location-based augmented reality
Augmented reality in conjunction with GPS, location sensors and geospatial data techniques will transform the way we connect and move through our real, physical space. Sharing data, pictures and other content on a location-based platform will be flat out mind-blowing.

8) Location intelligence and open data

On the business end, utilizing location intelligence for example to evaluate new growth opportunities for a real estate investor, or crossing demographic data with credit card transactions to determine how banks can capitalize on new lending products successfully leverages open data and location to stimulate economic growth.
9) Location data is no longer limited to specialists
Once the job of highly trained specialists, nowadays a city's municipality staff can alongside their data analysts take a pulse of the city and make transit and emergency service decisions based on real-time data from hundreds of calls and other location-based sources.
10) Increased democratization of data
As a community, we will embrace this shift and work together to create an environment where we democratize the access and analysis of data, rather than placing the power within a small group of individuals or companies. Location is critical for this.

Sound like a plan? Your help will get Geme.io there.

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10 location-based app features that will enrich your life

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Much has changed over the last half-decade, but we're not going to focus on it all. Instead, we're talking location, and more specific, social networks utilizing location-based features in a meaningful way. There are several apps on the market today that have a location-based component - GasBuddy, designed to help consumers share where the best gas prices are; or the omnipresent Uber, transporting us from A to B.

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GPS has been with us for many years, and this is what most consumers think about when they hear the term location-based services (LBS). While the satellite-based routing capability needed to help us get directions will remain an important capability for the foreseeable future, location-based services is morphing into something that is well beyond what the original creators envisioned.

Indeed, as we progress to a more autonomous world, the future will be driven by a required knowledge of location, both internally and externally to our immediate environment. This includes in-building and other enclosed spaces, something GPS is not capable of providing. Further, location will be used as a filter for providing many forms of additional related data. Knowing what's around us is the only way we can operate autonomous "things" as well as mobile devices doing real work. Finally, the notion of what is a map is changing dramatically as high-resolution images, environmental factors, and augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) capability make their way into location-enabled apps.

Currently most LBS are stand-alone applications that operate independently. But location services will be a key component of virtually all future solutions for a variety of needs, including artificial intelligence (AI), AR/VR, drones, simulation/modeling, data analysis, etc. No longer standalone implementations, most LBS will be available as cloud-based services.

An ability to access LBS via a real-time API/SDK is critical to making future services useful, especially in business. While many mobile apps already have an LBS capability, virtually all enterprise apps will ultimately add location services as a component, making it more relevant to users, as well as creating a means to achieve much better outcomes and enable more efficient analysis.

HERE and MapBox aim to change how LBS is used, delivered

How will this play out? The battle for LBS relevance moves from companies that only support increasingly commoditized location data, which they license (e.g., mapping data for GPS), to those that can offer enhanced and supplemental services.

Previously seen as an old-style GPS/mapping data company, the largest LBS company, HERE, is moving away from the old model, although not totally. It's changing from just being a database to being a value-added supplier of a full range of LBS with its Open Location Platform.

HERE has several partnerships with auto companies (Audi, BMW) and others (Intel, Oracle, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft) to add platform capabilities beyond their extensive mapping database. Those capabilities include value-added services such as tracking, traffic, safety services, and HD maps.

HERE's main cloud-based LBS platform competitor, MapBox, offers similar services but enables customers to combine their own or preferred third party mapping data with a real-time map.

HERE and Mapbox have some distinct strategy differences: Mapbox builds a map based on real-time sensor and proprietary data sources, and enables customers to connect other data sets as needed and by user preference. HERE has its own data sets and is looking to add value on top. Both have a value-added strategy that offers location data as a component of a wider need to enable more strategic value in using location - not just a factor in directions, but also as a key component of decision processes. This requires not only expertise in making services available, but partnerships that can form complete and useful solutions that enterprises can leverage.

While both HERE and Mapbox are aiming at changing the way LBS is used and delivered, others are likely to enter the fray in the near term. Google, Microsoft, IBM and other major players see LBS as a necessary capability in future apps and cloud-based services. Whether they go it alone longer term or continue to partner with the incumbent players remains to be seen. In fact, I could foresee one of these mega-players acquiring HERE or another player in this space in the next two to three years as a strategic differentiator.

Bottom Line: Moving beyond just mobile app needs, LBS is a critical component of next-phase autonomous "things," as well as many advanced services like AR/VR and AI analysis. The days of old-style companies offering only a mapping database are coming to an end. Going forward, success for location services vendors will be about powering the most useful solutions through partnerships, and the location data itself will be secondary, although not unimportant, as accuracy will be critical and commoditized.

Mapping data providers that don't move to a more ecosystem and more encompassing-based approach will not survive. And the primary winner will be the service provider that can create the most value-added services in conjunction with strategic partnerships that can generate revenues beyond a simple database access fee.

Currently, HERE seems to have the advantage, but the battle is not yet over, as other potential competitors (e.g., Google) are likely to enter the fray. Enterprises will ultimately benefit by this increased reliance on LBS and related services that power enhanced capabilities that improve operational efficiency and personal productivity. Companies should be exploring this technology now.
Note: This post was edited to clarify MapBox's offerings.

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Location-based services move beyond mobile and into enterprise apps

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GPS has been with us for many years, and this is what most consumers think about when they hear the term location-based services (LBS). While the satellite-based routing capability needed to help us get directions will remain an important capability for the foreseeable future, location-based services is morphing into something that is well beyond what the original creators envisioned.