{"id":767372,"date":"2025-08-05T05:58:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T12:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&p=767372"},"modified":"2025-08-07T16:05:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T23:05:21","slug":"mapping-and-analytics-conference","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/mapping-and-analytics-conference","title":{"rendered":"Tech Conference Exposes Growing Role of Mapping and Analytics in Business"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1741,276072,160952,338302,22772],"department":[476782],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-767372","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-ai","tag-banking","tag-infrastructure","tag-location-data","tag-manufacturing","department-new-analyst"],"acf":{"short_description":"Executives heard pointed advice from one analytics leader at a top global firm: It\u2019s time to make geospatial data \u201cfirst-class data.\u201d","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"Snapshot<\/strong>: Tech professionals from the business world gathered at a recent conference to share the innovative and surprising ways they\u2019re using mapping and analytics.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The growing importance of mapping and analytics to modern businesses was on display at a recent conference dedicated to geographic information system (GIS) technology<\/a>. Retail planners revealed how demographic data shapes the style and features of local stores. Hospital planners described heat maps that help maintenance teams identify service issues. And airport managers revealed<\/a> how GIS digital twins track infrastructure projects at a facility that hosts 100,000 travelers a day.\r\n\r\nThose and other accounts made it clear: Today\u2019s most successful companies are waking up to the value of mapping and analytics. The managing director of analytics at a prominent consulting firm drove the point home, urging attendees not to treat location data as an afterthought.\r\n\r\n\u201cMake geospatial data first-class data,\u201d he told business leaders\u2014on par with customer information and other sources of insight.\r\n

From Humble Beginnings to Enterprise Mapping and Analytics \u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nGIS emerged in recent decades as a system to manage the geographic realities of a business\u2014mapping and analyzing company-owned land, areas where it maintains operations, places where it might expand, and the networks that connect all those locations.\r\n\r\nWith its ability to integrate more information than a simple map or web app, GIS became a coveted asset in business circles. As the companies using it expanded, the technology\u2019s capabilities grew, too, eventually becoming an enterprise system of record<\/a> for mapping and geospatial analysis.\r\n\r\nJuly\u2019s conference showcased the breadth of the technology\u2019s evolution by highlighting a cross-section of the business challenges it addresses:\r\n