September 2020 Summaries

The global data monetization market is projected to reach over $370 billion by 2023, driven by the increasing demand for spatial data science. Organizations are expected to invest heavily in spatial data science, with 68% planning to increase investment over the next two years. To tap into this trend, companies can transform their data assets into viable products and integrate them with data marketplaces. The report "Spatial Data Monetization 101" offers best practices for organizations looking to monetize their spatial big data externally.

Snowflake, a cloud data warehousing provider, has recently announced geospatial data support and is now the target of CARTO's latest connector. This new connector enables Snowflake users to easily import data from the cloud into CARTO for spatial analysis and map visualization. The connection simplifies the process of unlocking real value in data by providing seamless imports and synchronization with a single reliable source. CARTO Enterprise customers can access the Beta version of the connector through their dashboard, where they can request access and import new datasets using the dashboard or Import API. With this integration, users can unlock data insights faster and more efficiently.

CARTO has released its Data Observatory, a new platform that enables users to discover, license, and access thousands of spatial datasets from vetted sources. The platform aims to reduce the time analysts and data scientists spend on "data admin" tasks by providing a seamless experience for accessing high-quality spatial data. With the new release, users can explore the Spatial Data Catalog, subscribe to public and premium datasets, manage subscriptions, and connect their data subscriptions to other cloud data warehouses like Google BigQuery. The platform also offers self-service subscription processes, partnerships with leading data providers, and data enrichment methods to enhance the value of spatial analysis and modeling.

CARTO has improved its Direct SQL Connectivity feature, allowing customers to connect to their database from a wider range of applications and locations. The new enhancements include support for PostgreSQL in SaaS solutions and native connectors for desktop applications like Tableau or Power BI. Users can now easily set up connections through the CARTO dashboard without requiring TLS client authentication certificates. A stable version is available for all enterprise customers, who can follow simple instructions to get started with connecting to their database.

The integration of Databricks and CARTO enables data scientists to perform spatial analytics on large datasets, combining the strengths of both platforms. With Direct SQL Connection, data engineers can create ETL pipelines to manipulate CARTO datasets, while CARTOframes allows for rapid visualization and enrichment of geospatial data within Databricks notebooks. This collaboration empowers teams to explore their spatial data interactively on maps, perform advanced analytics, and scale their workflows, benefiting industries such as Telco, Financial Services, CPG, Health/Pharma, and Logistics. By leveraging these features, organizations can unlock the full potential of their spatial data and gain valuable insights through interactive exploration and analysis.

Dstillery, a leading custom audience solutions partner for agencies and brands, has partnered with CARTO's Data Observatory to provide high-quality behavioral and location audiences data for the US. This partnership complements traditional demographic data sets by offering insights into social media sentiment, web browsing habits, mobility patterns, and other unique behaviors. Dstillery's Custom AI models constantly score and rescore individual devices into and out of audiences, ensuring accuracy. The partnership allows CARTO customers to analyze valuable data for purposes such as site selection, geomarketing, market analysis, and more. Behavioral and location audiences from Dstillery provide accurate and granular geospatial data on unique behaviors, enabling analysts across industries to apply their audiences and insights across various projects. Additionally, Dstillery can create custom AI audiences built from client first-party data, bringing digital-based audiences to the physical world for geospatial analysis. The partnership enhances CARTO's Data Observatory with enriched data sets, providing users with a holistic view of consumer behaviors.

Experian's WorldView Spatial Data available in CARTO's Data Observatory` is a partnership between Experian and CARTO that provides access to high-quality global spatial data for organizations using Location Intelligence. This partnership enables analysts to analyze consumer behavior and make effective models in various industries, such as retail and commercial real estate. The WorldView data includes socio-demographic attributes, consumer expenditure estimates, and consumer segments, which can be used to identify customer target groups and navigate the changing economy. The data is enriched with advanced methods, including satellite imagery and machine learning, providing consistent insights across the globe at a granular level. This partnership aims to bring value to Experian's existing customers and provide them with Location Intelligence capabilities.

The Fleet Management market is expected to grow from USD 19.9 billion in 2020 to USD 34.0 billion by 2025, driven by the need for access to essential goods and services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fleet management involves organizing and coordinating large numbers of vehicles, including commercial motor vehicles, aircraft, ships, and other assets, through various tasks such as vehicle leasing and financing, telematics tracking, maintenance, supply chain management, fuel consumption monitoring, driver management, asset utilization, route planning, security, and compliance. The effective use of location intelligence in fleet management can lead to improved efficiency, cost savings, and compliance with government regulations by visualizing fleet assets and optimizing their activity with data streams such as traffic, weather, and routing data. Best spatial practices include the use of vehicle telematics hardware to track vehicles, monitor driver performance, and analyze fuel consumption, as well as geofencing to ensure asset protection and security, and storing and analyzing location data to comply with regulations.

The winner of the Spatial Data Scientist of the Year award will be announced at this year's Spatial Data Science Conference, with the announcement scheduled for October 23rd. The award is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to spatial analysis and its impact on our world, using new types of data and advanced methodologies. The selection criteria include the use of innovative geospatial data, the impact of projects delivered, and innovation in methodology, which are all weighted equally. Nominations should be submitted by October 8th, and the committee is open to receiving submissions from academia, private sectors, public sectors, non-profits, or volunteers.

The Spatial Data Science Conference, #SDSC20, is a free virtual conference taking place between October 19th and 23rd, featuring dozens of speakers and panelists from across industry, government, and academia. The event will feature over 30 distinct sessions across 5 themed days, with themes ranging from learning the skills of today's Spatial Data Scientist to Spatial Analysis vs COVID-19. The conference will be available to the largest audience ever as a free virtual conference, with attendees joining from around the world, including the US and Europe. The event includes speakers such as Bilal Lodhi, Zeinab Bakhtiari, Brian Suk, Carla DeMarzo-Sanchez, Michele Ferretti, Stephanie Sy, Luc Anselin, Paula Moraga, Tim Rains, Nombuyiselo Murage, among others, who will share their experiences and insights on various topics in spatial data science. The conference is sponsored by companies such as Google Cloud, Experian, Unacast, OneView, Michael Bauer International, Oracle, SAP, Safegraph, and Placekey.

The BigQuery Tiler is a tool developed by CARTO, allowing for quick and easy visualization of large spatial datasets in BigQuery. This technology enables users to analyze global datasets on indicators such as population health facilities and mobility, without the need for significant computing power or resources. By partitioning large datasets into vector tiles, users can efficiently view data at various scales, including country-wide granularity. The tool also allows for analysis layers to be built on top of maps, enabling users to filter out areas with existing access to health facilities and focus on vulnerable populations. This technology has the potential to be applied across various use cases and datasets, making it a valuable resource for groups without technical expertise or resources.

This study investigated the association of socioeconomic and demographic factors with changes in workplaces mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, using a Bayesian spatial modeling framework. The analysis found that counties with higher income, older population, and lower density but larger workforce experienced larger drops in workplaces mobility during the lockdown phase, while those with higher household density observed increases in workplaces mobility during the recovery phase. The results also showed that neighboring counties exhibited similar patterns in changes in workplaces mobility, possibly due to state-wise regulations and their effect on neighboring states. These findings provide evidence of socioeconomic and demographic disparities in the US response to the pandemic and highlight the importance of considering neighborhood effects when modeling spatial data.