| | JULY 20149CIOReviewengineering industry, we are using GIS and Augmented Reality (AR) to aid in design and construction because it allows us to visualize our preconstruction designs as well as the pipes and infrastructure under the streets in real-time. In a previous article in CIO Review, Dan Horton, our CIO at Baker, recognized that Google Glass and AR could bring significant value and cost savings to many organizations. When mobile mapping technologies like LiDAR and visualization like AR are combined it allows us to assess real-world conditions remotely or bring vital information to the field. According to new research published by Markets and Markets, AR and Virtual Reality markets are expected to grow to reach $1.06 billion in 2018.GIS technology and location based information has also shown ubiquitous growth due to mobile technology features such as camera and a GPS (Global Positioning System) on smartphones and other mobile devices, which allow users to both map their location in real time and provide data back to Big Data sources. In some cases this upload of data is intentional such as field data and photo collection for a project, or to route you to a destination while avoiding traffic, or even to "check-in" on social media. In other cases, our Apps are collecting this information without us consciously being aware of it. For example, by loading Google Maps on our smartphones and clicking the "Agree" button, we have authorized Google to track us nearly everywhere we go. Other Apps have followed suit and we are now seeing this very Big location based data becoming available in the commercial marketplace to be exploited by your organization to improve and optimize your services. As an example, some cities are now using this type of data in concert with censors under the streets to monitor individual vehicles as they travel through the City to adjust traffic signal timing to improve traffic flow based on the driving habits of motorists.We have all listened as Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, showed us how he would use drones to deliver our packages. While that might be a ways off, drones will very soon provide a new avenue for Big Data to support our GIS mapping applications. Once approved by the FAA, drone flights will be used by many firms to collect aerial data once relegated to costly helicopters and airplane flights. This aerial imagery and data will be used to extract and map features on the ground, further adding to our knowledge about and location of everything in the world around us. Further, there is a new revolution in Big Data being rolled out which will increase by orders of magnitude the amount of information available to each organization. The so-called "Internet of Things" (IoT) refers to the connectivity of devices and machines to provide information on how they are running, to alert you if you are running low on milk, or that you left the garage door open. According to Gartner, "There will be nearly 26 billion devices on the Internet of Things by 2020." This proliferation of information along with recent advances in Cloud computing and mobile communications means that we can all benefit from this information, regardless of whether we are using it to check on the status of a package we ordered, deliver our products to someone's doorstep, or map out trends to support a new marketing campaign. Location is important and Big Data is here to stay. Using GIS technologies, we can better organize and understand this information to the benefit of our business. Each organization has a good use for the location based Big Data that is available today and on the horizon. However, it is only through ingenuity and insightfulness that we, like Google, can recognize how much location matters to our business and leverage the tools GIS provides to strengthen and optimize our operations.As more and more location-based "Big" datasets become available, companies will be finding new and innovative ways to leverage it
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