Out in Front: The Things We Carry

Headshot: Alan Cameron, editor-in-chief

We have entered a discussion phase at the magazine, a fierce conversation if you will, occasioned on the one hand by the periodic need to freshen our appearance, but also to re-investigate and re-evaluate our whole approach. The way we do things, and the actual things we do. The thoughts and pre-conceptions and mental equipment we carry with us to do our jobs: gathering and presenting the news and the newest in GNSS technology and business.

In the beginning, or before the beginning, really, I asked myself these questions:

• What has changed in the last year?
• Where are we succeeding?
• Where are we failing?
• What have we learned in the last six months?
• What is required of us now?

Some of the answers to these questions are of course proprietary, but some at least can be shared. So: What has changed in the last year — in the market?

Among new developments, we can count diversification away from the core of GPS/GNSS standalone technology. Never again, really, will satnav positioning suffice to answer the needs of the day. That ship has sailed. That dog has left the porch.

Certainly, though this is nothing new, we also see more international participation in the market, more international involvement on the part of all GNSS companies, no matter where their base, and more international collaboration.

The story of the year, replacing jamming and interference which were the stories of the last few years, is the rise of unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs), whether in the air, on land, or sea.

Finally, as a reflection of these trends, some trade shows and conferences are declining, while others grow in importance, attendance, and exhibitors.

In the context of future change, here’s a question I’d like to ask all of our readers. I welcome your answers to any of the questions you see posed here, or any thoughts at all, even if they consist of more questions. Send all and sundry to: editor @ gpsworld.com

But if you wouldn’t mind, please include this one:

Where do you see your efforts and those of your organization focusing primarily over the next five to 10 years?

A. Primarily on GPS.

B. Inclusive also of multiple GNSS: GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, various satellite-based augmentation systems.

C. More broadly, on positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems generally and in an integrated fashion, including other sensors.

D. Encompassing all the above and geospatial software such as geographic information systems (GIS) and location-based services (LBS).

Skipping ahead now to some outcomes, under the heading of what is required of us now, we here at the magazine are leaning more every day on these precepts:

• Grow digitally and grow internationally. These are the only true paths to growth, at least in business-to-business publishing.
• Beef up our geospatial presence. You can see this in action at geospatial-solutions.com.
  
• Increase show tie-ins at newly developing conferences.
• Aggressively pursue small, diverging markets.

That’s the new equipment we’re picking up. That’s what we carry now.