The USGS serves the nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life. The USGS contracted Global Marketing Insights to conduct a research study of the Africa remote sensing market as such relates to aerial and satellite data technologies. Global Marketing Insights created a series of extensive on-line surveys encompassing trends impacting the remote sensing industry as well as application usage, and data needs concerning aerial film, aerial digital, aerial sensors and satellite data. These surveys were completed between January 2008 and January 2009.
Global Marketing Insights established an international network of 13 Alliance Research Partners that hosted the website for the surveys and encouraged in-country clients to participate in the online survey. Ultimately, 377 online surveys were completed, as well as 20 in-depth personal interviews recorded. Participants in all segments of the geospatial industry will find valuable market insight in the USGS 2008 Africa Remote Sensing Survey report. Some of these trends and insights include:
- There is a positive movement in the use of remote sensing and opportunities for the use of geospatial data to make an even greater societal contribution to Africa’s sustainable development in the near future
- The private sector is starting to drive the process of developing geospatial data on the continent
- Respondents believe they have an adequate amount of remote sensing expertise but they need a greater number of accessible geospatial data sets. Data becoming a commodity is the number one trend to impact them
- Overall, the respondents believe that greater ground resolution is the technical advance that will impact their businesses the most followed by improved GPS units and increased data storage capabilities
