The Disruptive Potential of GIS 2.0 Joshua S. Campbell Association of American Geographers (AAG) Conference, Las Vegas March 24, 2009
Jun 19, 2015
The Disruptive Potential of GIS 2.0
Joshua S. Campbell
Association of American Geographers (AAG) Conference, Las Vegas
March 24, 2009
Outline Open Source Paradigm Shift
FOSS4G
Web 2.0
GIS 2.0
Disruptive Innovation theory
Humanitarian Information Management
Goals New Breed of GIS
Open Source is making GIS a commodity
Where does value migrate? / What is still ‘not-good-enough’?
Jobs-based approach to humanitarian information Value of GIS 2.0
Distributed data collection Data identification and dissemination
Open Source Paradigm Shift (O’Reilly 2005)
Open Source as field of scientific and economic inquiry
‘Paradigm shifts’ as revolutionary processes in science
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Kuhn 1962)
Understanding this paradigm shift, and its implications, requires Disruptive Innovation theory
Open Source Paradigm Shift
Impacts of FOSS have already happened…
Can be applied to open source GIS
FOSS4G
Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial
FOSS4G = Open Source + GIS
Represents a philosophical approach to software freedom and a collaborative software development environment
What is Web 2.0?
“a transformative force that’s compelling companies across all industries towards a new way of doing business characterized by harnessing collective intelligence, openness, and network effects”
--Tim O’Reilly
What is Web 2.0?
Developed in the last five years
Services enabled by FOSS
Who uses Linux? How about Google?
Again, an application of Disruptive Innovation theory Value migration
What is a GIS?
A digital representation of the earth, structured to support analysis
(Dobson, 2007)
Automated systems for the collection, storage, retrieval, analysis, and display of spatial data
(Clarke, 1995)
Should also include dissemination
GIS 2.0: A Reformulation
Free and Open Source Software
Web 2.0 philosophy collective intelligence, network effects, openness
Open Standards Interoperability
GIS 2.0: A Reformulation
Ubiquitous communication
Device convergence
Cloud computing
Disruptive Innovation (DI)
‘Disruption is a theory: a conceptual model of cause and effect that makes it possible to better predict the outcomes of competitive battles in different circumstances’
-- The Innovators Solution
User expectations increase over time
A product at its introduction is below user expectations
A product at its introduction is below user expectations
Over time, its features increase faster than expectations
A product at its introduction is below user expectations
Over time, its features increase faster than expectations
At some point, a products featuresbecome more than the majority of users needs
A product at its introduction is below user expectations
Over time, its features increase faster than expectations
At some point, a products featuresbecome more than the majority of users needs
This trend continuesinto the future
Underserved Market
Overserved Market
Underserved Market
Overserved Market
‘not good enough’
Competitive Advantage: -- Functionality -- Reliability
Driven by an integratedproduct architecture
‘good enough’
Competitive Advantage: -- Speed -- Convenience -- Responsiveness
Driven by a modularproduct architecture
GIS Market
ESRI products have exceeded the tipping point
GIS 2.0 has less features than ArcGIS….
but that only matters to the highest tiers of the marketplace
GIS 2.0 is both a Low-End and New Market Disruption
DI: Intrinsic to Open Source
Modular product architecture enables the group collaboration development environment
Modular product architecture begins a process of commoditization
Commoditization leads to a migration of value in the system
DI: Commoditization
Value migrates to adjacent tiers of the product stack
To the tiers that are ‘not good enough’
Determining what is ‘not good enough’ is relative
What job is the product being hired for?
GIS 2.0: Jobs-based approach Humanitarian Information Unit
Identifies key sources of geospatial and georeferenced data
Collects timely, verifiable, and relevant data
Analyzes data determine significant trends and relationships;
Disseminates information of value to all levels of consumers, from national-level policymakers to operational field managers
Humanitarian Information Marketplace = Overserved
DI: ROI is measured in social good
How can DI be adapted for situations where the Return On Investment is measured in social good?
Answer: Catalytic Innovation They create systemic social change through scaling and
replication.
They meet a need that is either over served (because the existing solution is more complex than many people require) or not served at all.
They offer products and services that are simpler and less costly than existing alternatives and may be perceived as having a lower level of performance, but users consider them to be good enough.
GIS 2.0: Collection
Widespread cellular networks: SMS
Ushahidi and InSTEDD
Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI)
Cloud storage and processing
GIS 2.0: Dissemination
Multiple tiers of users
Web mapping applications
.
GeoCommons Finder!
GIS 2.0: Conclusion
The Open Source Paradigm Shift is just beginning in the GIS world…
The value of GIS 2.0 tools for humanitarian information management will continue to increase
Joshua S. Campbell [email protected]