Interview Jack Dangermond

8/3/2019 Interview Jack Dangermond

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Geospatial World I January 2011

INTERVIEW

The definition of the geospatialindustry is changing, rather,evolving at a fast pace. I appreciateyour views on the same.Geospatial technology is indeed evolv-

ing rapidly; opening up new opportu-

nities, new applications and new ways

of using geographic information in

society. A 'new modality' is emerging

that uses everything we do now but ina new context. This is similar to what

occurred in the motion picture indus-

try when moving picture technology

was first invented. Initially people

filmed live stage performances and

disseminated them widely. After a

while, people realised that a lot more

could be done and a new modality

emerged, giving birth to movies as we

now know them. When maps were

IN AN EXCLUSIVE WITH

GEOSPATIAL WORLD,

JACK DANGERMOND,PRESIDENT, Esri REFLECTS

ON THE CHANGING

CHARACTER OF GEOSPATIAL

INDUSTRY AND PRIORITY

AREAS FOR Esri

14

A 'NEW

GEOSPATIALMODALITY'

JACK

DANGERMOND

President, Esri


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Geospatial World I January 2011 15

first automated using CAD systems, people digitised

maps, changed their scales and disseminated them

digitally. This was useful but limited. Digital maps aselectronic drawings gave way to the GIS platform.

This introduced spatial analysis and generation of multi-

ple map products from a transactionally maintained data-

base. The GIS represented a new modality, a whole new

approach for the application of geographic knowledge in

applications.

We are now at a stage where we are again seeing a major

shift in many aspects of the geospatial world. Take for

example measurement. In the beginning, we digitised and

scanned maps. Later, digital imagery was used to extend

map information. Now we are beginning to take full

motion video and integrating with our GIS databases

directly. GIS is integrating real time measurements, such

as traffic, weather, earthquakes and a plethora of dynam-

ic measurements.Another shift is to server GIS and the

use of Web as a platform. We are seeing distributed GIS

services emerge as well as the vision of a "system of

systems" being realised by various organisations with

different mission responsibilities. This is not just aboutconnecting enterprise data to the Web, it is actually the

emergence of Web oriented systems that are designed to

provide shared services and are maintained through

transactions. This is a new emerging architecture that

will support many of the visions of SDI that have been

discussed for decades.

What are you engineering in your products to takeadvantage of these new trends?The new GIS modality has many interesting characteris-

tics; it's distributed, yet can dynamically integrate data.

It involves the Web, crowd sourcing (VGI), templates, wide

scaled access to open data, server based architecturesand easier-to-use user interfaces and applications.

When we step back and look at what's going on

technically, there continues to be the traditional

enterprise computing patterns involving the desktop,

the server and the federated systems.

These patterns are used extensively in utilities, business,

government and natural resources as well as the more

pervasive platforms of cloud computing and device

patterns (i.e. smartphones). We have recently launched

ArcGIS 10.

This new technology integrates all five computing pat-

terns into one system; a complete geospatial ecosystem

for our users. So if you acquire a desktop license, you not

only have the local capabilities but also tens of thousands

of resources such as map services, data services, map

content, search capabilities and discovery and mashup

capabilities.

This means ArcGIS 10 extends from enterprise systems topervasive computing. Our purpose in doing this is to open

up traditional GIS systems, make their accessibility much

easier and provide the knowledge and capabilities of

these systems to users of the more pervasive world

(browsers and mobile devices). This technology shift is

creating the huge modality shift. GIS professionals are

developing new, more pervasive applications and evolving

the geospatial market towards 'GIS for everyone'. What

that means for a GIS professional is that their work done

on a desktop or placed on a server becomes part of an

InterviewGeospatial technology is evolving rapidly - opening up newopportunities, new applications and new ways of usinggeographic information in society. A newmodality is emergingthat uses everythingwe do now but in a new context. It offers acomplete geospatial ecosystem for the users


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ecosystem or infrastructure available to many. This archi-

tecture blends all five computing patterns and is totally

open and interoperable with other IT systems.

In summary, we are in a time of very rapid change. We

are still making maps and doing analysis on the desktop,

and at the same time GIS is moving to a new level with a

platform that is allowing the realisation of SDI visions.

A significant number of mergers and acquisitionshave taken place in the past five years in geospatialindustry, both of large and smaller companies. Manyclaim it as a process of consolidation. Howdo youperceive this?

This is always going on in most industries. Esri's businessstrategy is to focus on evolving a well designed and

engineered system rather than making acquisitions to

buy market share. We think this is better for our users

and creates a more stable organisation for our users and

employees. Our approach also involves partnering with

other organisations to create a broad ecosystem of

integrated geospatial technologies and applications.

Esri has occasionally acquired technology companies that

made our overall system better or helped our users but

we remain focussed on developing a simple integrated

geospatial platform that's open, interoperable and stan-

dards based.

Acquisition of Intergraph by Hexagon has definitelyinfluenced the ecosystem of the geospatial industryand has affected in some form or other many geospa-tial companies. It has enabled Hexagon to acquiretechnology in almost all segments including GIS,GNSS, imaging, software, hardware and so on.Thereis a strong feeling about the emergence of geospatialcamps in the industry. How do you view this new equi-librium?I don't like the culture and implications of camps. I do

know that technology continues to evolve rapidly and with

this evolution comes changes in business alliances and

more importantly end user capabilities. What has kept

Esri so healthy over the decades is our focus on our cus-

tomers' needs and make a large ongoing commitment to

investment in successful innovation. Also, we work hard

on maintaining an open policy on business partnerships.

While the geospatial industry continues to be competitive,


"GIS for billion people"Today, GIS is being deployed on a new platform

_the Web

and cloud computing-and we all are in the early stages of

adjusting to it. The characteristics of this environment areeasy-to-use technology, more pervasive access, and the

ability to mashup or integrate distributed knowledge. This

means that access to geospatial knowledge will grow

exponentially. Our existing users are gradually adopting

this new paradigm and integrating this platform with

their traditional workflows. So, in addition to running

their enterprises, they are putting up public services and

applications that can be accessed by anyone. This will

ultimately result in a geospatial platform that could

potentially reach billions of people.

Over the last few decades, widespread adoption of GIS has

caused a change in thinking. People can look at overlays of

maps, see new relationships, see different kinds of phe-

nomena, and it creates a new understanding. Up until

recently this has largely taken place in specialised commu-

nities, or with professionals using specific applications.

The next step in GIS evolution means that everyone will

have access to the idea of map overlays and spatial analy-

sis. While traditional GIS has brought greater understand-

ing within organisations, this next step will mean greater

understanding within society at large.

It also means greater collaboration and communication

across organisations. Esri is one participant in this move-

ment and while we are dominant significant player in

terms of research and advancement of the platform, there

is an enormous ecosystem of other players participating. I

am personally very appreciative of the opportunity to

participate and continue playing a part in mak-

ing all of this happen.


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these days we see less competition in some areas and

more cooperation based on a maturity in the knowledge

of what each of the vendors does best. Interoperability

standards have helped in this regard. Vendors have been

trending toward more specialisation and selling into the

areas that they do best in.

In technology business, there are three kinds of technolo-

gy companies: 1) core technology like Intel and traditional

DBMS companies; 2) solutions business and; 3) system

integration. In geospatial areas these three types can be

seen in both software and data. Organisations like Digital-

Globe and GeoEye focus primarily on core data leaving

solutions business to their partners. In GIS, Esri has

focussed on core technology. Our partners, like Telvent or

Telcordia, focus on utility applications.

Esri's business is to provide platform technologies. Our

business success is based on the fact that wedo this very well and have strong developer

oriented platforms and an open and collabo-

rative business partner programme that

helps our partners be successful.

GIS has moved beyond traditionalboundaries and so has the focus andapproach of GIS companies. Bentley,Autodesk and MapInfo, which werevery much in the GIS space a decade

ago, now position themselves as infrastructure, archi-tecture and business intelligence solution companiesrespectively. Howdo you look at these developmentsand in your opinion what is the core value and utility ofGIS in coming times? What would be its peripheralenvironment?We remain focussed on building enabling platform tech-

nology for enterprise and the pervasive geospatial market

is our core business. Many of our traditional competitors

have moved into niche markets with more of a solution

focus. As a result, we see less competition in the geospa-

tial platform business and more partnerships by large

software companies like IBM and Microsoft. Our partners

in selected vertical markets see competition with some of

these traditional GIS compa-

nies.

The improvements in

interoperability

between systems

have had a huge

benefit for end

users. For example,

GIS is increasingly

being integrated

with CAD technology

around specific work-

flows. ArcGIS for

AutoCAD has

made the Auto-

CAD desktop a

powerful

client for the

ArcGIS

Server

While the geospatial industrycontinues to be competitive,these days we see lesscompetition in some areas andmore cooperation based on amaturity in the knowledge of whateach of the vendors does best



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and as a result integrated workflows within many of our

clients. In other cases, shifts in technology have changed

the market. For example, with the new support for 3D

data models and analytic tools, the building management

industry has embraced GIS for new applications like facil-

ity management and energy optimization in smart build-

ings. Our users are basically extending their GIS's into

campuses and buildings. With respect to geospatial

enabling of business intelligence, we are seeing that hap-

pen in core companies like IBM, Microsoft, SAP and Ora-

cle. All four of them have the vision of geospatial enable-

ment of simple business intelligence applications using

maps as a "report." This market is small but with the

advent of consumer Web mapping, there is greater

awareness and people are demanding to see their data

visualised in this way. This is a good idea and our server


The concept of GeoDesign started my

career many years ago. The concept

was actually pioneered by my profes-

sor, Carl Steinitz at Harvard Universi-

ty, who will soon publish a defin-

itive text on the field. GeoDe-

sign uses GIS as a platform

for designing geogra-

phies at multiple

scales. Specifically,

the scientific infor-mation that GIS

users collect and

process is used to

guide them in

designing things

and quickly evaluate

the consequences of

alternative designs.

This supports one of the

basic tenets of GIS: better

decision making. I suppose

GeoDesign concepts have been

part of GIS workflows indirectly in

many agencies for decades. From the

dawn of GIS technology, people have

used it in a decision support role. But up

until recently, GIS has not been so well

connected. As an example of a GeoDe-

sign problem, in the US, there are elec-

tion districts, the territories of which

change every ten years. The boundaries

are redesigned by politicians or

lawyers. This is an interesting process

because by changing the boundaries in

various ways one could increase the

probability of winning the election.

People want to know the implications

of various changes in the boundaries. A

new Web application does this. GeoDe-

sign uses GIS layers to guide design;

basic map or analytic models and inter-

active tools to design alternative plans.

While GeoDesign can help us to design

fair and equitable election districts, the

same process can be used in the

designing of land use plans, siting

of retail stores in a region,

highway plans or transmis-

sion plans-GeoDesign

gives us a scientific

framework for evaluat-ing the alternatives and

selecting the best one.

So, GeoDesign is an old

idea. But it is also a

new idea considering

nature or considering

society as part of the

process for creating the

future. GeoDesign is rather

fundamental and you can think

of it at the engineering level like

designing a new road, at town level

like modifying it in a decision support

role. But up until recently, GIS has not

been so well connected. GeoDesign is a

combination of process, technology,

and methodology which allows us to

evaluate quickly the consequences of

alternatives.

GEODESIGN: Designing geographiesfor better decision making


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technology is now regularly being integrated with sys-

tems such as SharePoint, Cognos, and Business Objects

in a seamless way.

Crowdsourcing is another buzz word at the momentand presumably this is a pre-requisite for 'GIS forBillion People'. What new direction is crowdsourcingtaking worldwide?First, crowdsourcing is an interesting concept that has

been particularly successful with GIS on the Web. One of

the first really successful crowdsourced maps was Open

Street Map (OSM). The concept OSM used was to develop

a well organised classification system of streets (data

model) that allowed crowdsourced observation and easy

data entry. Esri adopted this concept of building an ontol-

ogy on a server and built it into ArcGIS 10 so that users

could set up their own map layer or feature class in the

database and through Web editing tools, easily collectobservation data using crowdsourcing.

This is a significant step because it means that a COTS

product could be used to organise a database on the serv-

er and any organisation could collect VGI observational

data and use it immediately. This has been a key for our

users who desired to do citizen science and crowdsourc-

ing of citizens. The bottom line here is that in order to be

useful, VGI data needs to be collected in a structured

manner so that it can be properly manipulated and ana-

lyzed. GIS users are now learning how to leverage this. So

it's not just a new kind of data source for them to inte-

grate, it's also a new set of methods for them to use.

Another kind of crowdsourcing which is even more excit-

ing to me is crowdsourcing from authoritative sources.

Last year, we started the 'Community Topographic Base

Map'. This is a template that users in various agencies

around the world download, pour their data into and

upload into ArcGIS Online. Our template involves 20 dif-

ferent scales of a topographic map and has been

designed for use in a GIS system. The map is a cache and

has continuous dynamic qualities. It is a beautiful map

and more than 500 organisations have contributed to this

system. We are currently making more than 12 million

maps a day on this system after only a few months. I seethis "community" approach as one way that SDI will be

realised.

Esri is as strong as ever in the GIS market space andis becoming a de-facto standard in GIS. This is greatnews, but it also requires a significant amount oflocalisation of Esri's capabilities. Howdo you foreseeproviding customer support and fulfilling local needsin times to come?In ArcGIS 10, we decided to change our approach towards

localisation with respect to language. So, in addition to

English, ArcGIS now ships in French, Spanish, German,

Chinese and Japanese. We will expand this to include oth-

er languages this year. Within our organisation we have

an initiative called 'One Esri', to consistently spread busi-

ness practices and user support globally. For many of our

distributors, it is like opening the door and walking

straight into Esri headquarters in Redlands, California.

That is the level of service and quality in support and

maintenance our users want everywhere. We are now

working with our distributors to implement the samebusiness practices and customer support, training and

technical support. Technology and globalisation are help-

ing us support our users and help grow our business

partners so they have the same capabilities globally.

In the given economic scenario, we see a significantshift in focus to emerging economies. What arethepriority areas for Esri in this new economic worldorder?Our basic philosophy is to follow what users want us to

Crowdsourcing is an interestingconcept that has been particularlysuccessful with GIS on the Web.One of the first really successfulcrowdsourced maps was OpenStreet Map. Another kind ofexciting crowdsourcing is onefrom authoritative sources



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do. Today, the North American market continues to be

strong for us. While there is certainly less money in gov-

ernment, our users continue to deliver efficiency and

better decision making to their organisations. The result

is that GIS is seen as important even in difficult economic

times. Enterprise licensing has allowed our users to

navigate around and be creative in delivering significant

value to their organisations.

Outside of North America, the Middle East, China, and

Russia are investing heavily and growing enormously.

Latin America (especially Columbia, Peru, Brazil, and

Chile) is certainly another growth market. There are, of

course, changes in the market place from year to year but

frankly, GIS is either sta-

ble or growing all overthe world.

What are thefour major ver-ticals for thegeospatialindustry?The utilities

segment con-

tinues to be a

growth area

globally. We are

seeing both new

utilities' growth and

continued rollover of

competitive technolo-

gies into our platform.

The government sector,

both at the local and

national levels, con-

tinues to grow. Themilitary and

security mar-

ket is grow-

ing and

we

also

see

natural resources, especially in mining, oil and gas and

forestry, growing.

What I am personally interested in is the growing interest

in open data policies and open government. It is an inter-

esting area for new applications of geographic informa-

tion. I also continue to be interested in education, growing

the next generation of professionals. The last area of per-

sonal interest for me is our NGO-NPO programme. Last

year we introduced a new programme which provides

nearly free software to NGOs. Thousands of organisations

have already used this. For a small fee NGOs can get a

free copy of ArcInfo and all of its extensions, downloaded

and delivered on his/her desktop in any country. Likewise,

organisations can get a full ArcGIS enterprise server

license. Our programme goes hand-in-glove with thegrowing open data policies of governments around the

world and delivers many benefits.

You have been focussing a lot on India and your recentefforts have brought tremendous movement in thethinking of political and administrative leadership inIndia. Would you please share your visionfor India?Senior leadership interest is a growing trend around the

world. My sense is that India is very much embracing GIS

as a societal platform. This is also being done in many

countries including China, Indonesia, Abu Dhabi, and oth-

ers. Even the United States is embracing GIS at senior

government levels.

GIS is moving from simple mission to being seen as

important technology infrastructure for governing.

Basically a movement is afoot at the executive level in

governments and corporations that GIS matters.

In India, when I met with many senior leaders, I found a

broad understanding of the power of GIS and how it couldhelp them govern. Geospatial technology has an opportu-

nity in India to deal with the real issues of water, food,

environment, urbanisation, transportation, and comm-

unication in a holistic manner. This could empower and

inspire so many things; increase collaboration, better

communication and improved decision making across

government and society. This could happen with some of

the leadership I met. They have the passion to drive it and

are willing to take risks to make it happen. This will make

India a better place.


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