Because the Earth is not flat!

Geo-information (or geo-spatial information), geographic information systems (GISs), and location-based services (LBSs) have experienced a boom in recent years, both in people’s professional and personal lives. The field is currently making a shift from the classical 2D paradigm to a true 3D paradigm.

However impressive the technology is, the limitations of 2D geo-information and applications are numerous, and notable for some business applications. True 3D GISs and LBSs are still under development, but some applications and systems already exist. Technological evolution will make 3D as widespread as 2D is today. As these technologies become available, the “that’s nice” phase will quickly move on to the “I can’t work/live without it” phase.

Over the last decade Atos has led, and continues to lead, important initiatives in this field providing customers with powerful systems and solutions for demanding applications, such as emergency management, urban planning, healthcare and risk management.

This whitepaper from Atos’ Scientific Community discusses the most recent developments in 3D geoinformation and location-based services (LBS) and summarizes the challenges and opportunities for the coming years.