INTERGEO – Bridge To A Digital Future
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INTERGEO – Bridge To A Digital Future

When geo IT experts from the worlds of business and science sat down together at a roundtable for INTERGEO and got talking, they put together a picture of geo IT’s significance and role at the present time and looking ahead as the transformation to a digital future takes shape. The experts concluded that intelligent geo applications will provide the answers to pressing issues that arise in the future.

Each of the experts at the table has a particular specialism. Surprisingly, despite the great diversity of the industry representatives from Hexagon Geosystems and Trimble and the scientists from the disciplines of cartography, photogrammetry and applied research from the Fraunhofer IAO, they all have one thing in common. They are all working on solutions based on digital geo IT expertise that promise a more adaptable and sustainable future with a better quality of life.

Smart Cities – Habitat of The Future

One key focal point of the discussions is the digital city of the future. The Fraunhofer Morgenstadt Initiative based at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO and INTERGEO with its Smart City Solutions topic platform entered into their first ever strategic partnership this year. The Morgenstadt Initiative’s work focuses on the city as a habitat but also as an innovation driver for the future. Created in 2011 as an electric mobility initiative, it now employs over 60 staff to explore the science behind topic areas including mobility as a service, hybrid power generation, data grids, smart energy buildings, connected public space and vertical farming, and also to pilot advances in Germany and the EU. The researchers identify problematic issues relating to cities, look at the possibilities for unlocking innovation potential using IT and initiate pilot projects throughout Europe to try out new technologies, products and solutions.

Intelligent Cartography Visualisation

Jochen Schiewe, Vice-President of the DGfK (German Cartographic Society), traditionally endeavours to depict relationships in the discipline he works in. According to the Professor for Geoinformatics and Geovisualisation at HafenCity University Hamburg, however, the 2D maps of the past are being replaced by personalised real-time visualisations that could be referred to as smart maps. Cartographers are developing intelligent visualisation systems through the digital networking of omnipresent sensor technology.

Data Essence of Digital Future

Everyone at the INTERGEO table stresses the value of data as the essence of the digital future. Data is the driving force behind innovations, the basis for intelligent solutions on the Internet of Things and the foundation for solutions based on artificial intelligence. Cities are already starting to recognise the value of data and – in particular in European countries outside Germany – are acting as data brokers. According to Morgenstadt Initiative project manager Alanus von Radecki, this development represents another setback for the open data philosophy, with a trend towards better data rather than open data.

He stresses that INTERGEO – especially in conjunction with Smart City Solutions – is ideally placed to act as a bridge to the digitalisation of cities and the environment.

 

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