Africa Remote Sensing market study final report

Global Marketing Insights, Inc. has completed the ‘2008 Africa Survey and Analysis of the Remote Sensing Market, Aerial and Spaceborne-10 Year Trends’ and delivered the final report to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The USGS contracted Global Marketing Insights to conduct a research study of the Africa remote sensing market as it 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.

“USGS's primary goal for the survey was to learn more about the remote sensing needs for Africa in order to support and assist the users,” said Dr. Shawana Johnson, President of Global Marketing Insights. “The survey study also provides a comparison to the Western and Asian studies that were previously completed (through NOAA contracts) and it provides insights into where the worldwide remote sensing market is heading – from the viewpoints of both data and service providers and end users.”

Some of the trends and insights of the study 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.