A little while ago I was invited to an event run by Innovate UK https://www.ukri.org/ as the event focused on the use of Geospatial technologies, but more so that there was a 1.5 million pounds available for a competition by the UK Geospatial Commission for projects and companies to bid for. https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252461354/Government-geospatial-data-competition-announces-winning-projects
At the time, Mapsimise was still very conceptual, I didn’t fully have the direction of travel for the project, and as CEO I thought that applying or following up after the event may have been more of a distraction in our delivery plans.
But it is great to see that both organisations have followed through and that a number of projects have been awarded a portion of the money allocated. You can read the full story here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-awarded-to-innovative-data-projects
The Minister for Implementation, Oliver Dowden, said:
“We are investing in location-based data technology to improve public services and the way people experience them.”
I can see only from experience that over the next few years that there will be a flurry of software solutions using geospatial data as point solutions for business or leisure. The thing is, here at Mapsimise we know from the “Dot Com” experience that having lots of individual apps and offerings will eventually shrink down into complete platforms for each sector. You only have to look at how Amazon started with books and how that business story has unfolded.
Here at Mapsimise we are starting with the intention of building a complete platform with many data sources. So if you wanted to track the safest routes to cycle in a city, or where cycle paths are in the country side, you could plot routes on a map within Mapsimise and save as a KML file, using traffic data to overlay the busiest times of the day.
Using Mapsimise you could easily plot all forest and tree plantation projects; it really is all about the data! If you have the data, you can use Mapsimise to visually represent anything you want.
The world of commerce and business is rapidly adopting the concept of using data and analytics in new ways and having spent 21 years in technology, I believe that Mapsimise will bring an offering that will fill a potential gap for all types of business.
That said geospatial does end with business and the public sector, as the phenomenal geocaching applications brings a new dimension to leisure time, along with augmented reality (AR). You only have to see the excitement created by application like Pokémon Go https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokémon_Goand the fact that my 10 year son loves running around the Isle of Wight with my wife’s phone searching for, and collecting virtual Dinosaurs (See https://www.ludia.com/en/games/jurassic-world-alive) that the capability of geospatial technology with (AR) is pretty much endless.
So, inclosing we look forward with anticipation of how Mapsimise will evolve and how it will be used in interesting ways.
Bio – Alistair Dickinson CEO Mapsimise
After 21 years helping organisations with technology, I’ve seen and worked on many projects. As CEO of Mapsimise I’m still very hands on working with all team members and not sat in an office making spreadsheets and crunching numbers. I’m happy to work on the support desk, take calls and discuss how our tools and technology can help businesses like yours. You can find me on Linkedin, Twitter or email me directly. I’m very jeans and t-shirts and still wear Nike Air trainers to the office which I’m told is cool…
