LEADERS' OUTLOOK
Technological Advancements are Best when Ahead of the Curve BY JACK DANGERMOND
T
ANNUAL EDITION / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022
Founder & President, Esri
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here has perhaps never been a more illustrative need for taking a geographic approach than the current pandemic. We have been able to watch and better understand the spread and impact of this virus on dashboards and maps. We can also better understand disruptions to the global economy, whether evidenced by supply chain struggles or labor shortages. Decision-makers in business and government are finding it increasingly important to strategize where they source materials — whether PPE or everyday consumer products — to ensure they are available to those that need them, and to better understand how to maintain operations and serve communities and customers with fewer people working. All of this is tied to location. So are the solutions. We have seen cities, states, and countries pinpoint vaccine distribution sites based on geospatial data. We have seen like-minded agencies and organizations team up to distribute food using one shared, collaborative map so as not to duplicate efforts and instead get essentials to those who need them most. At Esri, we quickly pivoted our business and made adjustments to support our users and employees. There’s a reason we introduced the ArcGIS Platform last year. We recognize that our users want to be able to pick and choose the elements of ArcGIS best suited to their organizations. We have seen users go to market far quicker, knowing they could entrust our backbone technology with a specific pain point they might have had, be it data management, imagery sourcing, security, or sharing.
