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According to a recent study by Daratech, a market research firm specializing in GIS, the overall government sector will remain remain strong consumers of geographic information systems (GIS) and geospatial hardware, software, services and data. In 2009, the public sector will account for 40 percent of the $5.3 billion worldwide market for GIS and geospatial products. The most prevalent product categories include data, geo-enabled engineering, global positioning systems, photogrammetric and remote sensing. Daratech also estimated that the total public sector spending worldwide in 2009 should exceed $2.1 billion, with national/federal governments accounting for just less than half of the spending. State/regional governments will spend $654 million, while local governments will spend about $465 million on GIS/geospatial products.

For 2009, the GIS and geospatial industry will grow at a much slower pace than in 2008. Worldwide growth in 2009 is forecast to slow to 1 percent, down from 11 percent in 2008, say Daratech researchers. Industry CEOs interviewed by the research firm, however, were unanimous in their belief that growth consistent with the robust 11 percent compound annual growth rate of the past six years would return in 2010. Read the full article from GovPro here.

So, what does this mean for the GEOINT community? Our guess is that public sector dollars will help augment any drops in commercial business for industry. And, despite the recession that we have been experiencing over the past 12 months, GEOINT has never been stronger — as was reinforced at the GEOINT 2009 Symposium. So, we believe that once the economy truly bounces back, the commercial sector will flourish once again and the public sector will continue to be a solid foundation for business growth. We welcome all thoughts and feedback!

Tags: Daratech, GEOINT 2009, geospatial intelligence, GIS, got geoint?, government, GPS, Obama, public sector, United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, USGIF