LEADERS' OUTLOOK ANNUAL EDITION / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022 20
The 'Why' of Geospatial Innovation
BY RONALD BISIO
Senior Vice President, Geospatial Sector, Trimble Inc.
F
or every challenging topographic survey, mobile mapping project, and tunnel monitoring campaign, people are both the reason for and the means of geospatial innovation. They are our customers, the surveyors in the field, combining their expertise with hardware and software to work smarter, faster,
safer, and cost effectively. They are the teams and crews working on all manner of surveying projects in infrastructure, construction, utilities and agriculture. They are our employees, listening to our customers, developing new workflows, and inventing the next breakthrough technology. And ultimately, they are the people living within the boundaries we survey, the drivers navigating the roads and bridges we scan, and the residents and
businesses operating in the cities we measure, model and monitor.
Opportunities born of a pandemic
Despite many disruptions, the pandemic is accelerating changes long needed in the digitization of work. It has also added urgency to global infrastructure needs, deepened commitments to sustainability, and challenged us to address skills gaps across the industry. From the earliest days of COVID-19, our employees, customers, and partners showed incredible resilience in one of the most challenging periods in history. Now, two years later, they continue to stay focused on their roles as governments pour historic funding into infrastructure construction and maintenance. As a result, we are seeing an acceleration rather than a slowdown in the adoption of software and hardware solutions for the digital transformation of our key industries. Enabled by technological advances and digital transformation across all workflows, these conditions present us with a generational opportunity. With governments putting historic funding into infrastructure, the geospatial industry is primed for innovation. In the United States, USD 550 billion is slated for new investments from the USD 1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) passed in November 2021. It is surveyors who will determine the location of new and existing infrastructure. To make the most of the post-pandemic era, we must enhance skills and embrace the potential of technology to advance processes across disciplines. Even the most exciting technological advances in robotics and artificial intelligence can’t make up for the need for more geospatial professionals and skilled workers to lead the industry forward.
