Perspectives

What Could the Davos World Economic Forum Gain From Geospatial Understanding?

This week the World Economic Forum is taking place in Davos, Switzerland. While much of the discussion is focused upon economic policy development, the technological and conceptual linkages that contribute to economic growth and wealth are not always clear. Geospatial and geomatics technologies not only create and contribute to the underlying infrastructure and processes that build, operate and manage the world, they are revolutionary elements, and capable to generating innovation that possibly establishes toward new forms of capitalism and business opportunities. What Could the Davos World Economic Forum Gain From Geospatial Understanding?

As the World Economic Forum in Davis, Switzerland gets under way, most of the debate and discussion is centred on policy development that ties to economics. No doubt high level discussions are worthwhile, but many of us wonder about the nuts and bolts to the economic equations being debated. Many of us are aware of or work with technologies and tools that are easily identifiable for their wide reaching ability to impact organizations, business structures and day to day wealth generation.

Davos could learn that geospatial tools are underpinning most of the world’s infrastructure today. Roads, health systems, defence, agriculture, resources, environment, security and IT are all located some place and spatial data flows through the conduits that inter-connect them.

What people talk about in meetings like Davos, comes through the understanding of how economies are performing, the state of business functioning and the health – and wealth – of the world’s people. It is geospatial tools and technologies that are used to actively engage government policies to economic performance. How we manage resources and understand processes leads to efficiency.

We do not talk enough about how spatial technology contributes to understanding. The more we understand our oceans, rail systems, demographics, policy development and other factors in relation to places, locations and world geography is vitally important. In fact, one might argue that discussing economic policy alone, without an understanding of processes connecting environment and social factors, cannot and will not lead to anything near a sustainable future.

We know that geospatial tools and concepts lead to improved IT efficiency, better transport, improved demographic awareness, better health services and improved disease management. It is important that these gains and improvements are articulated at the highest reaches of economic policy development – they are foundational tools and concepts leading toward new capitalism structures – which seems to be where Davos needs to head.

While everyone speaks to the issue of growth – without incurring greater debt – it is equally important to realise that new technologies and approaches could possibly regenerate old policies, open opportunities and rebuild flexible new pathways, all built on understanding through geographic tool sets.

As Spain’s unemployment hovers around 23% now, UK’s growth is stagnant, U.S. economic growth levels off around 1-2% only and debt continues to rise, don’t we need to understand more and better?

The old models appear to have stalled. But perhaps reform will involve major, new and bold steps to invigorate and connect people to production and to generate wealth once again.

I would suggest that spatial tools and technologies offer one possibility to help moving the world forward from stall speed.  And Davos World Economic Forum could learn from that.