How will open data affect the geospatial business?

Open data is becoming increasingly available all over the world. How will this trend affect the geospatial business? ‘GIM International’ has asked experts from some of the sector’s most influential companies for their opinions. How do Leica Geosystems, Trimble, Esri, Topcon and Bentley view the shift towards open geospatial data? Is it a blessing or is there reason for caution and restraint? Last but not least, what are their expectations for the years ahead?

Here are a couple of short snippets from the experts:

• “We support shared data over open data, solely for the quality there is to gain.” [Jürgen Dold, president Leica Geosystems/Hexagon Geosystems]
• “Open data is changing the experiences and workflows of our customers for the better by increasing their efficiency and expanding their services, especially with the continuous need for updated geodetic information.” [Ron Bisio, vice president geospatial, Trimble]
• “Open data will fuel the growth and relevance of GIS everywhere.” [Clint Brown, director of product engineering, Esri]
• “It is critical to have accurate and traceable data.” [Ian Stilgoe, vice president of geopositioning, Topcon Europe Positioning]
• “Open data is very important. We have many users that are publishing data, like cities and local authorities. Bentley has been committed to open standards for many years, particularly on the geo-coordination of applications.” [Aidan Mercer, industry marketing director for AEC, Bentley]

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Source: GIM International