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Written by Matt Ball
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Page 2 of 5
AUDIENCE
Geospatial information and technology collectively support the design,
operation, and management of infrastructure and enable better decision
making. By understanding the geographic nature of infrastructure,
spatial knowledge and tools can be used across many market segments,
adding integrated design and development that relates to the underlying
processes.
Architecture and Building: Sustainable design principles are
becoming much more prevalent in architecture and building.
Multi-disciplinary teams may now be involved in the planning,
construction and operation processes. Visualization is highly connected
to this evolution, enabling a change from the previous inefficient
disconnected and paper-based process.
Utilities: Utilities provide services across many geographies,
including gas, water, electrical and communications. In the future, we
are likely to see new forms of infrastructure such as wind, wave and
solar technologies emerge. The monitoring and operation of utility
resources, through the use and application of sensors and other
measurement technologies will grow and play an integral role in the
development of future utility infrastructure.
Transportation: Transportation systems are integral components
of sustainable living, occurring in both urban and rural locations, but
also in many modes. Air, water, road and rail can each be considered a
part of the integrated transportation network. Planning for
transportation development and operation is a spatial question and will
necessarily involve an understanding of how people relate to place and
the systems that support their movement. Transportation planning is
subject to a large amount of visualization and include new approaches
that engage sensor networks and monitoring technologies.
Policy and Planning: Planning communities and supporting their
healthy and sustainable future is dependent upon accurate spatial
information, and an understanding of geographical factors and linkages
between people and place. Economic connections are also vital to the
decision-making processes. Sustainable communities utilize
visualization tools and spatial information systems to manage data
warehouses and connect to their IT support systems. These links can be
seen to feed networks of employees, constituents and the general public
in an interactive dialogue toward hardening and strengthening
sustainable communities.
Natural Resources and the Environment: Land, water and air
resources are primary contributors toward healthy sustainable
communities. They are measured, monitored and modelled through space
and time. Understanding how people interact, use and maintain resources
is of growing importance as environmental factors move higher up the
international agenda. Water and marine resources are particularly
important to consider because of the vast areas they cover on the
planet and how they connect with military, transport and land-use
issues. A significant amount of measurement, monitoring and spatial
analysis is performed with relation to these resources, as is a growing
amount of visualization.
Emergency Planning and Response: Good planning involves
designing and building the infrastructure necessary to meet future
requirements, including response and recover to disaster. Response can
be planned for, thereby reducing risk factors and improving mitigation
factors. Spatial tools provide the ability to simulate and view
potential disaster scenarios prior to an event, and the ability to
assess impacts if a disaster hits.
Public Safety, Defense and Intelligence: Protecting and
defending citizens is a critical component of sustainable living. Law
enforcement is increasingly using non-intrusive sensors to monitor the
populace and speed the investigation of incidents. The military have
long been on the cutting edge of realistic simulations in order to
train and prepare for combat. The intelligence community relies heavily
on integrated spatial technology to assess and mitigate threats.
Education/Research: Education and research are key components of
any plan that seeks to support sustainable living across urban and
rural regions. Needs are growing for new professionals to become
involved in integrated management issues where technology plays an
integral role in the management of processes and decision making. Tools
such as 2D, 3D and 4D visualization are increasingly being linked to
environmental, economic, political and social factors. Meanwhile, a
need for ongoing research into spatial technology hardware and
software, as well as methods for their application needs to be more
fully understood. Of particular interest is the need to understand how
these technologies can be applied in new ways to promote and ensure a
sustainable, healthy future.
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