August 2019 Summaries

Location Intelligence can only be fully unlocked by combining high-quality data sets with spatial analysis. CARTO has developed a Location Data Stream Catalogue, which allows users to access various curated data sets available at different spatial aggregations. The catalogue now includes premium datasets from Applied Geographic Solutions (AGS), providing demographic and marketing data that can help companies make accurate market decisions. These datasets include sociodemographics, consumer spending, retail potential, crime risk assessment, and business counts, among others. They provide granular analysis information for industries such as commercial real estate development and retail decision-making. The estimations and projections are updated every year to avoid outdated census data. By incorporating these datasets into spatial analyses, companies can gain new insights and make informed decisions on site planning, expansion, and rebranding. CARTO's Location Data Stream Catalogue is available for users to access high-quality data sets today.

The "Storm Area 51 They Can't Stop All of Us" event has garnered significant attention, with over 2 million registered attendees, sparking curiosity among governments and the public alike. The Lincoln County Nevada government has declared a state of emergency due to the expected influx of visitors, while the US Air Force has issued warnings against infiltrating the top-secret Area 51 base. Short-term rental data provider Transparent analyzed capacity changes in surrounding counties to gauge demand for accommodations, revealing an increase in capacity in 7 out of 8 counties, with some experiencing notable increases. The data suggests that some areas around Area 51 are expanding short-term rental capacity in anticipation of the event, but the actual turnout remains uncertain.

Forrester Includes CARTO Among Location Intelligence Platform Providers In Now Tech Report` We are proud to announce our inclusion in Forrester's exclusive Now Tech: Location Intelligence Technologies Q3 2019 report, which highlights the applications of Location Intelligence and its role in providing a competitive advantage to modern businesses. Location Intelligence is defined as collecting and managing customer location data, enriching it with other data sources, and analyzing it for context to inform optimized actions, decisions, and customer experiences. Forrester notes that businesses can leverage Location Intelligence platforms to make sense of big spatial and customer location data, democratize advanced spatial insights, and scale intelligent business decisions and experiences. CARTO is included as one of the 8 providers mentioned in the report as a Location Intelligence platform, providing a holistic platform with data products, spatial analysis, and a complete development framework, which sets it apart from other vendors that have built or acquired multiple components of the LI stack.

This fall, the location intelligence community will be gathering at various events across the globe, including State of the Map: US, InterGEO, and GeoNYC - Doctors Without Borders NYC Mapathon. These events offer a platform for data scientists, developers, analysts, spatial professionals, and geospatial enthusiasts to engage with like-minded individuals, share knowledge, and explore the latest trends in location intelligence. The events will cover topics such as OpenStreetMap, innovative products and services, mapping, routing, transportation, and more. Attendees can expect talks, discussions, workshops, code sprints, and documentation sprints, as well as opportunities to network with industry experts and thought leaders.

The use of zip codes for geospatial analysis has several limitations, including not representing real boundaries but rather a collection of routes, and masking underlying insights that may lead to bad outcomes. Zip codes are often used due to their familiarity and granular enough view of the world, but this can lead to issues such as homes being listed in multiple zip codes, or areas with high concentrations of restaurants and bars driving Airbnb supply. Using real-world addresses, Census units, or spatial indexes like H3 and quadkey can provide a more accurate and meaningful analysis. These alternatives can help improve insights and create more effective outcomes by discarding analysis at the zip code level and using appropriate spatial scales.