Six months ago I made several predictions about what we could expect regarding location technology in 2019. I predicted that we would see the rise of advanced location applications, that real-time location monitoring would spur public safety spending, and that the market would embrace the data that location technology enables. Since we are midway through the year, I’m taking a look back to see how my crystal ball worked…and where it didn’t (yet).
- 3D indoor location spurs development of advanced applications. This is definitely underway, as proven by our own announcements of public safety applications with Orion Labs and Mark43, as well as the expansion of location applications in other vertical industries such as hospitality and healthcare. There is new evidence that the public continues to embrace location applications, which also is helping to spur more and more applications by developers, with no end in sight.
- Public-safety interest groups demand increased spending on location technology. I predicted that the increased efficacy of location tracking in public safety will drive demand for more spending, but the jury is still out on this. There is a concerted effort by the FCC to track E911 fee diversions by US states and territories, and the trend is improving in favor of public safety. We are seeing increases in state and local government IT spending, but the focus on location technology has been anecdotal. I still believe this trend will emerge, as we are seeing this demand in our own business. We will continue to observe the market before I declare whether this is a solid trend.
- Location intelligence will generate a treasure trove of data. I predicted that increased location accuracy would generate useful data for businesses to use in marketing to end users, and this trend continues to gain traction. A recent market study found that “almost 9 in 10 marketers said location-based advertising and marketing resulted in higher sales, followed by growth in their customer base (86%) and higher customer engagement (84%)”.
I’d say that my predictions have largely come true or are in the process of doing so. I look forward to checking in again in six months to see how 2019 ended up and what new predictions I have in store for 2020.
