The developing world has perhaps the greatest need for geospatial tools for mapping, planning and monitoring large infrastructure investments in order to advance their quality of life. Despite constrained resources, the scale of infrastructure ramp-up underway and ongoing in these parts of the world are inspiring, and geospatial tools are critical to make the most of these investments. The developing world has the benefit of avoiding the relatively high cost and low return of early adopters of geospatial technology, spending less and gaining more.
There have been amazing advancements in large-scale mapping technologies, with imagery and other data available from a myriad of global providers. On this large scale, there are also incredible advancements of software and systems that are increasingly automating production mapping, reducing the time and cost of producing country-scale mapping products. While large-scale mapping has advanced, the benefits of the Internet, social media, and networked devices are pushing what’s possible on community-scale mapping. Whether at the local or larger scale, geospatial tools are ideally suited to help the developing world balance infrastructure investments with eco-social impacts and benefits.
Accessible Infrastructure
While we speak of the infrastructure investment in roads, bridges, and transportation, there is also the infrastructure of computer software and hardware to run geospatial applications. This technology used to run on high-end custom workstations with high cost software. The software now runs on standard desktop machines that have come down dramatically in price. Even the production-scale photogrammetric workstations are a thing of the past with off-the-shelf components running this specialized software.
There is also a move toward more easily administered enterprise-scale solutions with hosted services on the cloud. This model charges by use and offers tuned and flexible solutions that respond well to demand. The headache and investment in server technology is something that can be avoided, which drives down the overall cost. More importantly in the developing world, hosted services eliminate the need for highly skilled computer administrators, which are in short supply.
Increasingly Open
In the developed world there is a growing movement toward more open data sharing at the municipal and regional level, where software developers can access freely available government data and create mashups that interpret and visualize the data for useful citizen-oriented applications. The framework of open data sharing is ripe for replication in the developing world where governments can quickly extend the utility of collected data to wider audiences. The added benefit here is the gain in free software development with only the minor price of posting data for download.
The open movement also applies to open source software, where the framework platform of open source geospatial tools are becoming mature. This free software can provide a compelling starting point in developing countries where there often aren’t the data, tools, training, support and expertise to stand up other software solutions. Internet enabled Open Source geospatial tools also offer the means to make the solutions available to larger groups for input, and accessibility of the underlying code makes them adaptable to specific purposes.
Mapping by the Masses
The means to distribute the data collection of base layer mapping data to the masses has been successfully demonstrated with the OpenStreetMap data and platform. This platform is ideally suited for the developing world, where the burden and cost of data creation can be spread widely to an engaged volunteer force for constant update and improvements. Applications can easily be created upon the free data source available through OpenStreetMap to spread the benefit of mapping and route finding to broader audiences.
In the developing world particularly, geospatial technology doesn’t necessarily draw the most highly skilled students and practitioners. With so many professions to choose from in countries that are rapidly advancing toward knowledge work, software engineers are likely to look first in more business-oriented fields. This reality of scarce skill sets means that the tools and technology need to be accessible to the average citizen. Luckily, the complexity of geospatial software has been decreasing over time, with more easily usable platforms that don’t require a great deal of theory and training, this trend neatly fits the needs of the developing world where more accessible toolsets will mean much deeper adoption.
Understanding Change
The pace of change in the developing world makes it difficult for governments to interpret, visualize and share the details in a timely manner. Accessible tools that engage citizens on cell phones and other available devices will enable a whole new level of interaction between the citizen and the government. The creation of two-way communications with data and location have the potential for dramatic change where town planning is achieved by the masses, where incidents are reported by the people rather than government agents, and the collective crowds are informed and empowered toward more self governance.
This coming next generation of geospatial tools will diminish the need for resources for oversight and allow governments to focus more on the efficient delivery of services instead. The interest in being engaged to mold the future of their rapidly changing communities will be aided by tools and systems that encourage cooperation and shared placemaking.
The geospatial revolution is reaching whole new levels of utility and impact with the advent of more accessible data and tools. In parallel with this, the pace of change within the developing world requires new and more flexible ways to apply systems and sensors to make the most of their momentum. The developing world stands to benefit greatly from this broader adoption and application of geospatial tools and technology, and will likely have advancements to share with the rest of the world along the way.
