TDWI Checklist Report Helps Enterprises Understand What Geospatial Analytics Can Do
New report shows enterprises seven ways geospatial data can be used, from refining sales and marketing efforts to honing risk analysis.
SEATTLE, WA, December 16, 2013—TDWI Research has released its newest Checklist Report, Seven Use Cases for Geospatial Analytics. The report examines how enterprises are using geospatial data—sometimes called location data or simply spatial data—to improve their operations or their bottom line.
Increasingly, companies are looking to a variety of data types and new forms of analysis in order to remain competitive. “Forward-looking companies are developing analytics ecosystems that make use of disparate kinds of data, including text data, social media data, machine data, and geospatial data,” writes the report’s author, Fern Halper.
Geospatial data is emerging as an important source of information both in traditional and in big data analytics, but how is it being used by today’s modern enterprises? Halper explains that geospatial data and geographic information systems (GIS) software are being integrated with other analytics products to enable analytics that utilize location and geographic information. Such expanded analytics power helps enterprises move past mapping to more sophisticated use cases, including advanced visualization and predictive analytics.
In fact, according to a recent TDWI survey about analytics, the number of respondents who plan to use geospatial analytics will double between 2013 and 2016. Today, users want to better understand the value and use cases for this technology. This Checklist Report provides 7 such use cases.
Halper begins by examining using geospatial analytics in refining sales and marketing efforts, including segmenting customer markets and maximizing promotional activity. She also explains how geospatial analytics can help an enterprise upgrade its asset management, including providing insight for a utility about service outages and where best to dispatch repair crews.
The Checklist Report also explores the use of geospatial analytics in law enforcement, risk analysis, and logistics planning. Halper writes about how healthcare, government, and the finance industry have employed the technology to detect and prevent fraud.
“Our checklist report focuses on helping organizations understand how today’s enterprises are making use of geospatial data to best advantage,” says Halper. “Most business people know how such location data is used to enhance maps with consumer data for selecting a new store location, for instance. We wanted to go beyond this scenario, however, and look at how communications companies can employ location data to anticipate service failures, how law enforcement can use it to issue alerts when parolees cross restricted boundaries, or how insurance companies can predict where the probability of claims payout will be high.”
This research was sponsored by Alteryx, Information Builders, and Tableau Software.
For a complete copy of the report or to ask questions of the author, members of the press should contact Fern Halper at [email protected].
The report is freely downloadable by the public at http://tdwi.org/research/2013/12/checklist-seven-use-cases-for-geospatial-analytics.aspx; a short registration is required for those downloading a TDWI report for the first time.
About the Author
Fern Halper is director of TDWI Research for advanced analytics, focusing on predictive analytics, social media analysis, text analytics, cloud computing, and other “big data” analytics approaches. She has more than 20 years of experience in data and business analysis, and has published numerous articles on data mining and information technology. Halper is co-author of "Dummies" books on cloud computing, hybrid cloud, service-oriented architecture, service management, and big data. She has been a partner at industry analyst firm Hurwitz & Associates and a lead analyst for Bell Labs. Her Ph.D. is from Texas A&M University. You can reach her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter: @fhalper.
About TDWI
TDWI, a division of 1105 Media, Inc., is the premier provider of in-depth, high-quality education and research in the business intelligence and data warehousing industry. TDWI is dedicated to educating business and information technology professionals about the best practices, strategies, techniques, and tools required to successfully design, build, maintain, and enhance business intelligence and data warehousing solutions. TDWI also fosters the advancement of business intelligence and data warehousing research and contributes to knowledge transfer and the professional development of its members. TDWI offers a worldwide membership program, five major educational conferences, topical educational seminars, role-based training, on-site courses, certification, solution provider partnerships, an awards program for best practices, live Webinars, resourceful publications, and an in-depth research program. For more information, visit tdwi.org or follow us on Twitter @TDWI.
About 1105 Media
1105 Media, Inc., is a leading provider of integrated information and media in targeted business-to-business markets, including specialized sectors of the information technology community; industrial health, safety, and compliance; security; environmental protection; and home healthcare. 1105's offerings span print and online magazines, journals, and newsletters; seminars, conferences, and trade shows; training courseware; and Web-based services. 1105 Media is based in Chatsworth, CA, with offices throughout the United States.
Media Contact:
Fern Halper, TDWI
[email protected]; 978.443.0504