Technological developments in GIS have kept pace with the emergence of new and emerging technologies in the IT space, like Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), Big Data, Digital Twin, Web/Cloud, et al. GIS deployment on Web/Cloud enables organizations to build enterprise geo-platforms hosting data, applications, solution templates and open APIs (application programming interface) serving a variety of users.
The federated architecture based on open standards enables users to access content from multiple data servers and consume it as a service using any device, anytime and from anywhere. For instance, the geospatial infrastructure of a Smart City would enable various departments like property tax, healthcare, transportation, solid waste management, and education, among others, to share their data with other departments in a collaborative manner.
ESRI’s GeoHub technology makes content available to external entities, including citizens, NGOs, academia, and start-ups that can build citizen-centric applications to leverage the data. Another example of geospatial infrastructure would be state GIS integrating data from various departments to become a single source of truth and geo-enable various state government processes and workflows.