GIS/Geospatial Market Continues to Be Strong

According to the latest research from Daratech, Inc., a leading market research firm for the information technology industries, the market for GIS and geospatial equipment, software, and services continues to increase. The company forecasts that worldwide revenue will reach $3.6 billion this year, up from $2.82 billion in 2004.

The growth is driven by sales of commercial data products and the emergence of desktop- and Internet-based systems, Daratech reports. Software developers comprise more than half of this projected revenue ($1.5 billion), with three vendors (ESRI, Bentley, and Intergraph Corp.) accounting for about half of the industry’s total software revenues.
Data is the second largest component of revenues, which is projected at $677 million for 2006. Client services and hardware sales make up the rest of the revenue picture, Daratech reports.

So who is buying all of this technology? Daratech says that utilities and other regulated industries (telecommunications, transportation, and education) continue to be the largest consumers, contributing about half of the revenue. The public sector-local, state, and federal government agencies-account for more than one-third of GIS/geospatial technology purchases, Daratech says. And while the private sector continues to lag in exploring these technologies, acceptance is growing within the A/E/C industry.