Global Positioning System Reference
In-Depth Information
offer service become shared across more applications. It is important to remember
that it is the location aspects of services that are delivering the value. A location-
aware advertisement or traffic message is much less useful when it is not
delivered at the right time, in the right place, in the right format, to the right
person. This is difficult to do technically, and perversely, it can be an advantage to
those who do. The organizations with the capability to converge all the systems
necessary to deliver a good range of Whereness services are not likely to be many,
and may have limited competition, at least for a time.
2.3
Future Whereness Applications
One of the problems with Whereness services to date has been the lack of a “killer
application” so it is germane to ask if there will ever be one, or alternatively, will
there be a set of niche applications as there are at present, which will then grow in
significance?
There are such a diverse range of applications areas, some of which are so
important to the future of society and business that the potential for killer
applications remains, and Whereness can rightly be considered a potentially
significant commercial opportunity. As an introduction to the application areas it
is useful to consider first what are the potential new “hot” areas. Although more
traditional areas of e-commerce remain opportunities (for example, location-based
advertising), since the start of the new millennium there are certainly some
growing trends that offer Whereness operators opportunities. Some of these will
now be highlighted.
2.3.1
Management of Scarce Resources
The response to climate change will lead to pressure to reduce the greenhouse gas
emissions from transport systems, which account for about a quarter of man-made
emissions, and which may be achieved by many strategies—technological,
economic, and moral. The effect will be a major change in the way vehicles are
used so that the reason for every journey will be much more carefully considered.
Whereas the original motivation for universal road tolling was to reduce
congestion and raise tax revenues, in the future it may be much more about
affecting behavior change to promote a lower carbon footprint. Organizations
may well want to show their “green” credentials by keeping track of all business-
related journeys and individuals may wish to keep a tally of personal emissions
because they may gain tax incentives or perhaps a feel-good benefit.
Whereness services are clearly necessary to automate the process of keeping
account of vehicle movements. It is not simply logging distances but also keeping
account of acceleration and breaking, since the style of driving greatly affect the
fuel economy.
