Google is Expecting More Geospatial Growth!

Google recently commissioned two studies of the geospatial industry, one for the US and one for the world as a whole.  The final results of the US study are encouraging!

Focusing only on the commercial sector of the geospatial world, cost savings and employment numbers exclude government employees.  Even without government numbers, the report estimates there are at least 500,000 employees in the US geospatial industry, roughly equivalent to the airline industry!  Among other activities, these employees manage spatial information, use that spatial information to provide business insight, train and educate future geospatial professionals, and develop software and devices to expand the usefulness of all this information and training.

The industry's total revenue estimate of $73 billion is shadowed  by the effect of geospatial services, with an estimated $1.4 trillion in cost savings and driving $1.6 trillion in total revenue.  Yep, with a "T".

To get these numbers, 1,000 business managers spanning US industry were surveyed.  Over half (51%) claim they uses web-bassed mapping services in their business, and 40% "believe geo-services is an important component of the American competitive advantage." 

Besides GIS being interesting, challenging, and at times fun, it sounds like a lot of people realize the importance of location.