Decades of architecting the ArcGIS geospatial platform have made new patterns of work possible. GIS data flows more freely than ever before within enterprises and between trusted partners. Advancements have come in waves as new standards have been adopted. In Europe, data sovereignty concerns have fostered new approaches to data sharing.
The barriers of data silos are largely bygone. First, the availability of mobile devices allowed users to seamlessly access data from any device, anywhere. Then, software as a service (SaaS) offerings enabled users to share data, apps, maps, and dashboards within and outside their organizations. Cloud platforms and marketplaces have helped spread geospatial tools and workflows as components in larger systems. Now, the European concept of data spaces provides flexibility for data providers to work across clouds, aiming to streamline complex international supply chains.
It is worth revisiting these waves of interoperability—and their outcomes. Each has empowered new levels of digital transformation, making organizations more efficient and transparent. Having access to data on any device helped many organizations leave paper behind. ArcGIS Online, Esri’s SaaS offering, has sped up collaboration by providing integrated tools that work together to collect data, publish web maps, and fuel in-depth analysis. Cloud marketplaces provide portability for spatial analytics tools and functions. And data spaces such as Gaia-X offer new business models in industries ranging from automotive to agriculture.
The ArcGIS geospatial platform enables each of these patterns, allowing users to provision solutions across a wide variety of technologies.
Working Anywhere, on Any Device
The ability to work from anywhere had its proof point with the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations that held back from offering off-site data access quickly pivoted when stay-at-home mandates were declared. ArcGIS Online provided an easy pathway to expand GIS access to a distributed workforce, enabling users to sign in securely.
The device used doesn’t matter. Manufacturers and software developers have adopted standards across computers, tablets, and phones to ease integration. The standards that make it possible to seamlessly exchange data on any device have made working from anywhere a reality.
This flexibility has empowered new workflows. Paper forms have largely gone away—or should. Digital workflows eliminate data redundancy and errors, and far more people have access to data that describes current conditions. New patterns of collaboration have allowed dispersed teams to resolve complex challenges with a shared awareness that showcases priorities and spurs teams to complete tasks.
SaaS Connections Help Make Decisions at the Speed of Trust
Recent disasters have tested a new level of all-of-government response, with improved outcomes thanks to the ease with which data flows among responding agencies. Multiple agencies synchronize their teams through SaaS connections and, in many instances, turnaround times have gone from days to hours.
Trust, established before events, allows each organization to offer its best data while maintaining security and control. Data exchanges that once required memorandums of understanding are being replaced by direct SaaS data connections that allow agencies to work together more closely.
Implementing ArcGIS Hub has led to more sharing of data, maps, and solutions. Data flows to shared dashboards, where everyone can visualize progress, and this creates a common operational picture.
This pattern of cross-partner collaboration is made possible by the portal component of ArcGIS Enterprise. The portal-to-portal pattern offers a new level of exchange that enhances productivity and collaboration, allowing each participant to augment other responders’ experiences by giving them access to apps, tools, content, and services.
Cloud Marketplaces Expand Reach
ArcGIS Marketplace is an exchange where users can find add-ins, widgets, and partner solutions to boost their ArcGIS implementations. Other cloud providers have similar exchanges where users can employ components of GIS in larger workflows to understand enterprise data in its real-world context. For example, Esri packages an ArcGIS telecommunications management solution on AWS Marketplace for all aspects of telecommunications project life cycles.
Esri also offers spatial analytics capabilities and an extensive library of authoritative and curated spatial data to Microsoft Fabric, an AI-powered analytics platform tuned for high performance. Microsoft Fabric includes AI integration, a unified data lake, and centralized administration. Esri adds the ability to produce interactive and intuitive visualizations and maps to empower geospatial decision-making.
These marketplaces extend the reach of the geographic approach, allowing users to perform spatial analytics to explore socioeconomic, demographic, and environmental contexts.
Data Spaces Address the Wider World
In the European Union (EU), data sovereignty is paramount. To provide open data while protecting Europeans’ data privacy rights, data spaces are emerging.
Data spaces create a data-sharing ecosystem with a decentralized structure that allows each participant to decide whom to share their data with while maintaining control over it. This structure provides various levels of openness in the data, with the ability to restrict some data to certain stakeholders. The aim is to boost data-driven innovations without compromising individuals’ or organizations’ autonomy.
Data spaces fit the broad term of Anything as a Service, or XaaS, which refers to solutions, products, and technologies being delivered as a service. This includes resources, apps, and infrastructure.
Gaia-X is one of several data spaces created to make data available for use while protecting the sovereignty of data in and about Europe. This federated data infrastructure has the support of the German and French governments as well as European research institutions and universities. The strategy includes plans to open publicly held datasets, invest in data processing infrastructure, and create a procurement marketplace for data processing services.
In each Gaia-X data space, a clearinghouse gives a list of available XaaS offerings that users can purchase. The clearinghouse shows each offering’s name and has information about the quality of its service, usage policy, service level, and billing details. The Gaia-X Digital Clearing Houses review credentials and ensure that services comply with EU regulations. These details become verifiable credentials that are cryptographically signed and notarized. The trusted entities in the data space must have a verifiable credential in Gaia-X and must conform to rules, including inputting metadata that describes each offering. Gaia-X and other data spaces connect data providers and users without pooling data in a central store.
The concept is being driven by sectors, such as the German automotive industry, that are interested in streamlining global supply chains. In agriculture, for example, European farmers and agricultural cooperatives are adamant that they own the data about their fields and farming practices. A data space for all agrifood actors ensures that sensitive data about food production can be shared securely with others that provide related services. For instance, an AI service could help farmers detect plant stress or optimize energy and resource use.
Details and requirements for European data space exchanges are being finalized. Working with 52°North Spatial Information Research in Germany, Esri has proved that its technology integrates well with Gaia-X data spaces. A recent exercise showed that ArcGIS architecture aligns with Gaia-X requirements. For anyone wanting to participate in data spaces, Esri can help them navigate the requirements.
A Commitment to Interoperability
Data has become a strategic asset for achieving sustainability and gaining competitive advantages. With the rise of AI, the value of authoritative data has grown for testing and verifying the results of machine learning algorithms. Additionally, as the world adapts to a changing climate, there is a heightened need for global collaboration—facilitated by shared data.
ArcGIS remains flexible and adaptable to international demands. Esri is anticipating the opportunities that data spaces afford while continuing to support other data exchanges that have proved their worth.
Technology continues to evolve and grow in sophistication, making it challenging to stay current and interoperable. At Esri, the commitment to interoperability never wanes. We continue to work on integrating with evolving patterns of use while advancing analytics and visualization with big data, real-time data, and distributed GIS architectures that break down barriers for sharing geographic knowledge.
