It is well known that the rise of the Internet and devices such as laptops, smart phones, and tablets are transforming the industrialized world, but what may not be as well known is that these devices and their creators also care about the physical location of everything involved. What is location intelligence or geospatial data, and how can businesses and firms use all that data coming from electronic devices that people carry around? Location intelligence is very useful for marketing and other businesses, and demographic reporting tools are what make this possible. When demographic reporting tools and their data are analyzed by enough experts, a clear picture can be drawn about the location and movements of these electronic device owners. How can demographic reporting tools get this job done?
Geospatial Analysis Today
There is more than just the Internet itself to consider. The actual devices that connect to the Internet, and the people who own and carry them, make up a large part of demographic reporting tools that professional data analysis firms make use of. Today is the age of the Internet of Things, which refers to all the Internet-connected mobile devices that are linked to each other, and all this mobility can give data firms an idea of where these consumers go and what they do, drawing a map of movement that can make marketing strategies easier to implement, along with other purposes. Demographic reporting tools often take the form of RFID tags, which are data chips inside these personal devices that capture and track data of movement. A few years ago, in 2011, nearly 12 million such tags were sold in items, but by the year 2021, it is estimated that nearly 209 billion will be sold, representing the exponential growth of the Internet of Things. This connects directly to geospatial data.
This is a recent but a big business, and it is due to rapidly grow alongside the consumption of electronic devices that act as demographic reporting tools. As of 2011, the geospatial industry generated some $73 billion in revenue, and this in turn helped generate $1.6 trillion in revenue for the American economy at large. MarketsandMarkets, meanwhile, released a report estimating that the geospatial analytics market will grow from a value of $27.42 billion in 2015 all the way to an impressive $72.21 billion by the year 2020. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is confident that the growth of this industry will also create a lot of jobs. Between 2012 and 2022, many jobs that deal with GIS and location intelligence, such as cartographers and geographers and of course mapping technicians will grow. Similarly, the research company Garter has predicted that nearly 4.4 million big data jobs will be created in the next two years, and only about one in three will actually be filled. This could be a huge opportunity for those interested in statistics, geography, data analysis, and other computer work.
Uses for Demographic Reporting Tools
Why is all this data so useful, and why is so much money spent on collecting and analyzing the data of how smart phone and laptop users move around? This can be very useful for marketing firms, for one thing, who can use this information to know where consumers are and where they tend to go and when. This can allow them to create a responsive marketing effort that adjusts to people’s movements, and it can show where in certain cities, counties, or states these items sell the most. What is more, such tracking information can be useful for when a business sends out its employees on business trips, to ensure that these employees are going where they are supposed to and that they do not get lost or get in trouble. GPS tracking data is useful for property as well. Vehicles such as cars, vans, snow plows, trucks, and more can have trackers in them so that if they are ever lost or stolen, they can be tracked down no matter where they are. This can also help save lives if a vehicle is stranded due to weather or other issues, such as a blizzard, hurricane, or similar calamity.