[Freegis-list] Where's the money in GIS?

[Arnulf Christl]

Adam wrote:
> I was wondering if people on this list would share where they think the
> money is in GIS?

Hi Adam,
most money has been spent on collecting data in terms of manpower. 
Implementing software has never been that lucrative for the employed 
developer but it was (past tense) for corporations.

> Is most business with Local or State or Federal Govt' / or private sector?

Most longtime activity up to date has probably taken place at local, 
state and federal govt' levels. The private sector has been sleeping for 
the longest time and is now waking up to the chances in using spatial 
information management (but we have been saying for years already. GIS 
business is a lot slower than software dev but its also more steady and 
continuous).

> Where are people mostly looking for?

Thinking from a Free perspective (as in freedom not in beer) I'd say that:

> Selling Public Data Sets?

Does not make sense as it has already been funded and now should be 
understood as collective property. The old German term "Allmende" 
describes this best: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allmende. Pity it does 
not translate well into English. Anybody any suggestions?
Public data should be the basis to generate surplus value. For this it 
has to be available for free or at minimal cost.

> Selling Custom Data Sets?

This will be an important sector, expecially for us small scale 
specialists. Find your sector, be the best. But it should not be selling 
the *data* but selling the *act of enhancing*. After work has been done 
it should be returned to the public (that freedom thing again). Earn 
your money by doing things, not by selling finished products by 
multiplying revenue. The very nature of GIS data makes it stay in a 
constant state of flux.

> Selling GIS programs?

Selling software in a proprietary way has been lucrative for the longest 
time. Look at the prices of packages and the discount you can get when 
you start dickering and you know what I mean. This will be the largest 
problem to the established GIS industry, they are having a hard time - 
not so much adopting to Open Source development but more so to thinking 
Free Software. Most standard know-how required to do GIS is nowadays 
publicly available, there is not much secrecy left that can be an 
advantage to a proprietary business.

> Custom GIS development?

This will be a growing sector as spatial interest diversifies and 
specializes. Profit margins are smaller due to smaller communities of 
interest (in terms of people and funding).

> Selling maintenance?

Call it service & support, then maintenance will be an important area of 
business activity. Probably globalization theory will grow to be more 
important in the sense of thinking globally (use standards, collaborate 
on software projects) and acting locally (provide support in your local 
vicinity).

> Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Best regards,
Arnulf.