As cyberspace, wireless communications and GIS converge — buckle your seatbelts for a ride through the new world of location-based services. Because digital mapping and mobile technology are revolutionizing the way we find information.
GIS and spatial data have clearly proven themselves in the world of web-based mapping.Today, technology companies like MapQuest, Maptuit, and Vicinity are integrating mapping functionality into their client’s web sites to drive up revenues.
Wireless is growing at the rate of 67,000 new subscribers every day, about one subscriber every two seconds — a level of usage that’s expected to double within the next two years. Worldwide, the number of wireless data users is projected to be over 1 billion by 2005, generating $20 billion per year for the wireless industry.
As the web meets the world of wireless communications, precision-based, spatial-data content providers will be in hot demand. A demand generated by organizations that want to take their product and service-offerings mainstream, using location-based services.
Web-enabled, wireless-telecommunication services, wireless PDA’s, web-based mapping services, wireless in-car navigation, and wearable computing technology all rely on spatial location -- the backbone of this exciting new technology revolution.
With geographic location or ‘where’ underpinning our decision-making processes, mapping-data content providers and innovative service providers will join forces to take advantage of this highly lucrative enterprise.
This paper will explore the impact that location-based services will have on the demand for accurate spatial data, and help you understand why location is critical to successful consumer and business applications.
As the world of wireless, internet and location tracking technology converge, content providers find themselves poised with an opportunity unrivalled in the history of spatial technology. In the past, data has traditionally been a means to an end. It’s been used to analyze, manipulate and model to create an end product or solution. Now as we approach Location Based Services as a mainstream wireless service, spatial data now becomes the commodity, the single most important resource that will determine the success of an application.
There is no doubt that Location Based Services are the next major value-add service that wireless network operators can provide, and forging relationships between operators, hardware manufacturers, software developers and content providers is paramount.
As we move forward with this next generation of business data, we must change the way we evaluate it. As with every application that has a requirement for geographical data, it satisfies very specific needs, and varying degrees of attention are placed on its characteristics (i.e. scale, aesthetic value, accuracy). Similarly with Location Based Service applications we have factors and criteria that are critical to its fundamental success. This paper will identify the factors to consider when choosing geographical data for a Location Based Service application.
Location Services can be divided up into four categories; Safety, Billing, Information Services and Tracking. Within each one of these categories, operators will find applications that will require the use of geographical data. Deciding what level of information to present will be their challenge.
With the requirement for very specific business data sets to meet the needs of new applications, data providers will need to devote a considerable amount of time and resources focusing on market demands. In order to do that, content providers must have a solid foundation within which to present the new business data. Fundamentally, the business community uses streets, addresses and postal codes to determine the location of assets, clients and resources. So a complete file identifying the infrastructure is necessary to deliver site specific information. In addition to being complete, the data infrastructure should be current, and supported by a well established maintenance or update schedule. Being able to provide “up to the minute” results will improve the performance and acceptability of an application. The key point to be made is, when selecting content for an application, ensure that the provider is in a mode of maintaining the infrastructure and not in the process of building it. A content provider’s primary focus in the Location Based Service market should lie in new business data to augment and improve the functionality and results of the application.
Business geographics in its simplest form is the ability to recognize the location of business opportunities. This is done by taking raw business information such as customers, competitors, assets, events, and assigning a geographic location to them. This process is called geocoding. When selecting data for a Location Based Service application the geographic infrastructure will be the cornerstone of success. Within the infrastructure, three elements will more than likely be present. Street address, municipal designation and postal codes are attributes that will determine the level of accuracy to which a location will be placed. If the content used as the infrastructure is current, then data needed to drive a location based service application can be geographically referenced and annotated much more efficiently and with greater accuracy.
The point is: When evaluating content for a Location Based Service application, ensure that the infrastructure has a proven ability to provide excellent geocoding results.
Based on the type of application, there may be a strong need for routing information to be attached to the street file being used in the infrastructure. This will be critical in any application that will provide some type of tracking service. Examples of these services may include; fleet and asset management, traffic monitoring and call routing. Giving the infrastructure that level of attribution allows the service to not only provide the queried location, but the optimal route as well. Routing information may consist of street direction, alias names, turn restrictions, and estimated speed limits. How the routing information is delivered is dependent upon the application’s service model. Routing information can be delivered graphically over a compatible PDA device, plain text, or verbally if the model employs a voice call service.
As with most GIS applications, the old saying “ Bad data in, bad data out!” is a recognized fact, and even more so in a Location Based Service application. In the past, data accuracy has been overlooked at times, due to the fact that the goal of the exercise was to create a conceptual model for analysis purposes. The primary goal of any Location Based Service is to provide the location of an object or event. If the location that you assign an object is inaccurate, the quality and credibility of the service is compromised.
Data can be evaluated on its spatial accuracy and on its textual attributes. Spatial accuracy can be measured by the margin of error in the georeferenced material in relation to the real world. For example, an emergency 911 tracking applications spatial accuracy will be a mission critical factor if it is going to be endorsed by a wireless carrier. Therefore, definite benchmarks must be met in order to fulfill user expectations.
The currency and accuracy of the attribute information that is associated with an object or event is the credibility behind any type of application. If the object queried by the user is spatially accurate, but lacks the correct identification or attributes, the application has failed. When evaluating content for a Location Based Service application, ensure that the data meets the appropriate spatial accuracy required and that the data compiled has been based on a current and reliable source.
Simply defined, topology is the mathematical procedure for defining spatial relationships between elements. Topology looks at how points, lines and polygons relate to each other. They may relate in three different ways; adjacency, proximity and connectivity. Every object in the world has a spatial relationship with the others. If we can define these relationships, we can utilize that relationship to improve the functionality and efficiency of an application. An example of this would be a call routing application. If topology were not present in the infrastructure, the ability to utilize the routing information stored in the street file would be compromised. Before a route can be determined, a process that evaluates the optimum connection from one location to another must be in place. If at any point in this process we lose the connectivity, the process fails.
One of the most important considerations when evaluating content for an application is the data’s scalability. Scalability refers to the flexibility in the amount or level of detail that can be provided over the wireless network. One of the largest hurdles in the development of Location Based Service applications is the ability to transmit large amounts of information over the network. The development of 3G and Imode technology will facilitate this delivery. However, in order to maximize an applications efficiency in providing data, developers must have the flexibility to scale back detail if required. This flexibility in detail allows the application to deliver the information that is needed, and filter out redundant or irrelevant information. This will be an important requirement when dealing with applications that will transmit mapping via a PDA device.
Another important factor to consider when selecting content is the data architecture. In many cases, content for a Location Based Service application will reside on some type of application server. When the content needs to be updated, or additional information will be added to the application. Developers will want to ensure that there will be a minimal disruption in the service when integrating the data. When evaluating data for an application, ensure that the internal database is designed to evolve with the changing requirements of the technology.
This paper has attempted to outline some of the considerations to be made when choosing content for a Location Based Service application. This list is by no means complete and will often vary considerably with the type of application delivered. As the industry sorts out the logistics of implementing this technology, content providers will be manipulating business data to meet the demands of the market.
One thing is certain, Location Based Service technology will be a thriving market for network operators, and the integration of these location services is inevitable. As these services are deployed over the next few years, the level of functionality of these applications will improve. This technology is being driven by E-911 requirements, but e-commerce applications will eventually dominate the space. As the technology improves, expectations of data performance will increase. Ensure that the content that is chosen for an application has the ability to grow alongside the technology.
Derek Baranowski