Role of Science in Private Sector Remote Sensing

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Role of Sciencein Private Sector Remote Sensing

• Tina Cary, Ph.D.
• President, Cary and Associates
• 20 February 2001

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Todays Topics

• Introduction
• Private sector remote sensing

• Role of science in private sector remote sensing

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Todays Topics

• Introduction
• Private sector remote sensing

• Role of science in private sector remote sensing

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Private Sector Remote Sensing

• Industry trends
• The players customers and data providers and
  value-added resellers
• Instruments and orbits are they all the same?
• Target markets who wants the information?
• Business models who pays for it?

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Industry Trends

• Historically, remote sensing and aerial
  photography were separate industries
• products were not substitutable
• Now they are converging into a single industry
• softcopy photogrammetry
• improved spatial resolution
• airborne GPS plus IMU

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The Playerscustomers, data providers, VARs

• Customer someone with a need for spatial
  information, and something to offer in exchange
  for it
• Data provider may be a collector of data, or a
  distributor or reseller
• Value-added reseller (VAR) turns the raw material
  into information of value

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Customers

• Need to know
• What is at location A?
• Where are all occurrences of item B?
• What is the distance from C to D?
• What is the slope from C to D?
• What is the area occupied by item E?
• Has there been a change at location A?
• Have there been changes in the location of item
  B?

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Data providers

• Satellite operators
• Earth Search Science, EarthWatch, GER, ImageSat,
  OrbImage, Resource21, Space Imaging, SPOT, USGS
• Aerial firms
• Internet portals

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Value-added resellers

• Generally focus on one vertical industry
• telecom
• insurance
• forestry
• Highly competitive
• data providers
• federal government
• universities

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Instruments and orbitsare they all the same?

• Technically, they are not all the same
• instrument differences
• parts of the spectrum and bandwidths
• spatial resolution and field of regard
• radiometric resolution and S-N ratio
• orbit differences
• altitude
• inclination

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Instruments and orbitsare they all the same?

• Customers want multiple suppliers
• reduced risk
• better prices
• Customers want inter-operability
• Customers want benefits, not features
• Customers dont care whether instruments are the
  same, care about information

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Target marketsWho wants the information?

• National Security
• Commercial
• -mapping -telecom -fishing
• -oil and gas -consumer -insurance
• -real estate -agriculture -forestry
• -engineering
• Science/Environmental monitoring

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Business modelsWho pays for it?

• Traditional models
• data as a government-provided free good
• data as a valuable raw material
• Alternate models
• subscription services
• transaction-based fees
• variant advertiser pays

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Todays Topics

• Introduction
• Private sector remote sensing

• Role of science in private sector remote sensing

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Role of Sciencein private sector remote sensing

• Basic research
• Investigating questions to increase
  understanding. Typically the practical use of the
  answers is not apparent
• Applied research
• Investigating questions whose answers are
  expected to affect our lives sooner rather than
  later

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Role of Sciencein private sector remote sensing

• The general pattern in the U.S. is for basic
  research to be funded by the federal government
  through grants to universities and through the
  operation of government laboratories
• Remote sensing
• NASA
• USGS

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Role of Sciencein private sector remote sensing

• Private sector does fund applied research
• Since Bayh-Dole, industry increasingly funds
  university research
• Major ethical issues
• delayed publication
• limited disclosure
• conflict of interest

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Bayh-Dole Act

• 1980
• Allowed universities to patent the results of
  federally funded research
• Revolutionized university-industry relations
• 250 patents/year before Bayh-Dole
• in 1998, more than 4,800 patent applications from
  universities

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Remote Sensing

• The industry as a whole is not very oriented to
  research and development (RD)
• if something saves money or time, or gives a
  better result
• AND
• if a competitor is using it
• then they have to adopt it or lose business

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Technology Adoption Bell-Curve
Moore, 1999
C
D
E
A
B
Chasm
Key
A Technology enthusiasts
The
Visionaries Intuitive Support revolution Contraria
n Break away from the pack Follow their own
dictates Take risks Motivated by future
opportunities Seek what is possible
Pragmatists Analytic Support evolution Conformist
Stay with the herd Consult with their
colleagues Manage Risks Motivated by present
problems Pursue what is probable
B Visionaries

C Pragmatists
D Conservatives
E Skeptics
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From Research to Profit

• Industry change involves series of steps
• Research and development
• Manufacturing
• Use
• Examples
• Forward motion compensation (FMC)after 20 years,
  50
• Softcopyafter 5 years, 10 after 10 years, 36

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RD and the Life Cycle

• In remote sensing, funding of research by
  industry is modest
• Probable factors
• size of the industry
• the industrys position in its life cycle

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Life Cycle
Introduction
Growth
Maturity
Decline

time
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Life Cycle
Inception Development
Introduction
Decline
Growth
Maturity

Industry Sales
Industry Profits
0
time
Hiam Schewe, 1992
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Role of Sciencein private sector remote sensing

• Applied research is greatly needed
• instrumentation - increase accuracy
• procedures - automation
• applications - demonstrated benefits
• accuracy - liability
• social science - technology adoption

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Role of Sciencein private sector remote sensing

• Basic research left to others
• Applied research is greatly needed
• Industry - academia partnerships are not as
  common in remote sensing as in other fields of
  science today

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