business intelligence Business intelligence (BI) comprises the strategies and technologies used by enterprises for the data analysis and management of business information. Common functions of business intelligence technologies include reporting, online analytical pr ...

, location intelligence (LI), or spatial intelligence, is the process of deriving meaningful insight from

geospatial data Geographic data and information is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as data and information having an implicit or explicit association with a location relative to Earth (a geographic location or geographic position). It is also call ...

relationships to solve a particular problem. It involves layering multiple data sets spatially and/or chronologically, for easy reference on a map, and its applications span industries, categories and organizations. Maps have been used to represent information throughout the ages, but what might be referenced as the first example of true location 'intelligence' was in London in 1854 when

John Snow John Snow (15 March 1813 – 16 June 1858) was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology, in part because of his work in tracing the so ...

was able to debunk theories about the spread of cholera by overlaying a map of the area with the location of water pumps and was able to narrow the source to a single water pump. This layering of information over a map was able to identify relationships between different sets of geospatial data. Location or geographical information system (GIS) tools enable spatial experts to collect, store, analyze and visualize data. Location intelligence experts can use a variety of spatial and business analytical tools to measure optimal locations for operating a business or providing a service. Location intelligence experts begin with defining the

business ecosystem Starting in the early 1990s, James F. Moore originated the strategic planning concept of a business ecosystem, now widely adopted in the high tech industry. The basic definition comes from Jim Moore's book, ''The Death of Competition: Leadership and ...

which has many interconnected economic influences. Such economic influences include but are not limited to culture, lifestyle, labor, healthcare, cost of living, crime, economic climate and education.

Further definitions

The term "location intelligence" is often used to describe the people, data and technology employed to geographically "map" information. These mapping applications like Polaris Intelligence can transform large amounts of data linked to location (e.g. POIs, demographics, geofences) into color-coded visual representations (heat maps and thematic maps of variables of interest) that make it easy to see trends and generate meaningful intelligence. The creation of location intelligence is directed by

domain knowledge Domain knowledge is knowledge of a specific, specialized discipline or field, in contrast to general (or domain-independent) knowledge. The term is often used in reference to a more general discipline—for example, in describing a software engin ...

, formal frameworks, and a focus on decision support. Location cuts across through everything i.e. devices, platforms, software and apps, and is one of the most important ingredients of understanding context in sync with social data, mobile data, user data, sensor data. Location intelligence is also used to describe the integration of a geographical component into

processes and tools, often incorporating

spatial database A spatial database is a general-purpose database (usually a relational database) that has been enhanced to include spatial data that represents objects defined in a geometric space, along with tools for querying and analyzing such data. Most spa ...

and spatial

OLAP Online analytical processing, or OLAP (), is an approach to answer multi-dimensional analytical (MDA) queries swiftly in computing. OLAP is part of the broader category of business intelligence, which also encompasses relational databases, repor ...

tools. In 2012, Wayne Gearey from the

real estate industry Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010) ...

( JLL) offered the first applied course on location intelligence at the University of Texas at Dallas in which he defined location intelligence as the process for selecting the optimal location that will support workplace success and address a variety of business and financial objectives.

Pitney Bowes Pitney Bowes Inc. is an American technology company most known for its postage meters and other mailing equipment and services, and with expansions into e-commerce, software, and other technologies. The company was founded by Arthur Pitney, who i ...

MapInfo Corporation describes location intelligence as follows: "Spatial information, commonly known as "Location", relates to involving, or having the nature of where. Spatial is not constrained to a geographic location however most common business uses of spatial information deal with how spatial information is tied to a location on the earth. Miriam-Webster® defines Intelligence as "The ability to learn or understand, or the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one`s environment." Combining these terms alludes to how you achieve an understanding of the spatial aspect of information and apply it to achieve a significant competitive advantage." Definition by

Esri Esri (; Environmental Systems Research Institute) is an American multinational geographic information system (GIS) software company. It is best known for its ArcGIS products. With a 43% market share, Esri is the world's leading supplier of GIS ...

is as follows: "Location intelligence is achieved via visualization and analysis of data. By adding layers of geographic data—such as demographics, traffic, and weather—to a smart map or dashboard, organizations can use intelligence tools to identify where an event has taken place, understand why it is happening, and gain insight into what caused it." Definition by

Yankee Group Yankee Group was an independent technology research and consulting firm, founded in 1970 by Howard Anderson. The firm "was one of the analyst industry’s most prestigious boutiques through the dot.com boom, with 70 analysts on the payroll in 2006 ...

within their White Paper "Location Intelligence in Retail Banking: "...a business management term that refers to spatial data visualization, contextualization and analytical capabilities applied to solve a business problem."

Commercial applications

Location intelligence is used by a broad range of industries to improve overall business results. Applications include: *

Communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

and

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

Network planning and design Network planning and design is an iterative process, encompassing topological design, network-synthesis, and network-realization, and is aimed at ensuring that a new telecommunications network or service meets the needs of the subscriber and op ...

, boundary identification, identifying new customer markets. *

Financial services Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...

: Optimize branch locations, market analysis,

share of wallet Share of wallet (SOW) is a survey method used in performance management that helps managers understand the amount of business a company gets from specific customers. Another common definition is the following: Share of wallet is the percentage ("s ...

and

cross-sell Cross-selling is a sales technique involving the selling of an additional product or service to an existing customer. In practice, businesses define cross-selling in many different ways. Elements that might influence the definition might includ ...

activities,

mergers & acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

, industry sector analysis, risk management. *

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

: Census updates, law enforcement crime analysis, emergency response, environmental and land management, electoral

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

, tax jurisdiction assignment,

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

. *

Healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

: Site selection,

market segmentation In marketing, market segmentation is the process of dividing a broad consumer or business market, normally consisting of existing and potential customers, into sub-groups of consumers (known as ''segments'') based on some type of shared characte ...

, network analysis, growth assessments, spread of disease. *

Higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

: Student Recruitment, Alumni & Donor Tracking, Campus Mapping. *

Hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

s and

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s: Customer profile analysis, site selection,

target marketing A target market, also known as serviceable obtainable market (SOM), is a group of customers within a business's serviceable available market at which a business aims its marketing efforts and resources. A target market is a subset of the total m ...

, expansion planning. *

Insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

: Address validation, underwriting and risk management, claims management, marketing and sales analysis,

market penetration Market penetration refers to the successful selling of a good or service in a specific market. It is measured by the amount of sales volume of an existing good or service compared to the total target market for that product or service. Market pe ...

studies. *

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

: School site selection, enrollment planning, school attendance area modification (boundary change), school consolidation, district consolidation, student achievement plotting. *

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

Target market A target market, also known as serviceable obtainable market (SOM), is a group of customers within a business's serviceable available market at which a business aims its marketing efforts and resources. A target market is a subset of the total ma ...

identification, subscriber demographics,

media planning Media planning is generally outsourced and entails sourcing and selecting optimal media platforms for a client's brand or product to use. The goal of media planning is to determine the best combination of media to achieve the clients objectives. ...

. *

Real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

: Site reports, comprehensive site analysis, demographic analysis, growth pattern analysis, retail modeling, presentation quality maps. *

Retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

: Site selection, maximize per-store sales, identify under-performing stores, market analysis, retail leakage and supply gap analysis. *

Transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

: Transport planning, route monitoring.

References

{{reflist Business intelligence Market research Strategic management Geographic data and information

Further definitions

Commercial applications

See also

References