I have had a number of questions from our private beta Providers that basically ask, “What maps should I be making?” To be honest, I wish I knew. In reality, WeoGeo Market was established to answer this very question.

We set up WeoGeo to lower the risks of creating and selling mapping products (most importantly by reducing marketing and transaction costs). We believe that by lowering the risk of creating and selling geo-content, more products could be created at lower prices. By combining more products at lower prices with a greater ability to find and customize those products, Users of those products would be more apt to purchase more geo-content. The overall goal is to create a truly functioning marketplace for geo-content. The end result would be a collective intelligence expressed through the market that would help all of us focus on making the most valuable geospatial products.

Answering the question of what product to create is one of the hardest parts of running FERI’s operations. While FERI is a research and development organization, we still had to perform the basic sales and marketing efforts of finding paying customers to support our development of value-added mapping products. It is a very time consuming and difficult process, requiring a lot of telephone calls and a lot of travel to search out programs that would value our imaging and mapping efforts. Such is the nature of sales and marketing, and every good salesman would tell you that is just the way you have to generate business.

However, as a scientist I want to focus on the generation of new mapping products. While I could (and still do) focus on sales and marketing, my real interest is in generating new mapping products that could help people make decisions with their resources or help save lives. With the hyperspectral imagery, we could develop maps focused on a variety of topics. These maps could range from Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs or more commonly called red tides) to Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) to detecting probable locations of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Yet, finding sufficient demand for these products to overcome the high initial production cost of creating these products is difficult. (I have a whole other story on the IEDs and how the DoD does business with contractors and appropriation earmarks that I’ll save for another time.)

Over the years, we have watched with great interest how the internet has impacted other businesses. One of the most interesting impacts that we have seen is the rise of shared intelligence from the accumulation of individual choices. For example, search engines have used the individual linkages of web page creators to develop a collective intelligence estimate of the most likely desired result for a search term (and a new industry of search engine optimization). In particular, we were fascinated by eBay’s ability to enable millions of people to develop larger markets for their niche products.

By establishing a functioning marketplace for these niche goods, eBay created liquidity and demand for products that previously had limited marketability. In the process of creating a market whose niches could be efficiently filled, they also provided opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop new markets. In effect, eBay created a platform that enabled individuals to make choices, create products, and satisfy the needs of others, which in turn created a positive feedback mechanism for everyone who participated. This led to the creation of whole businesses that did not exist prior to eBay, and the rise of the valuation of goods that previously had limited market enetration, and thus, underdetermined recognized value.

The increased liquidity of products and the collective actions of many individuals led to a self-sustaining marketplace that enriches all of the participants. eBay is a lesson in economic theory, and gives truth to the concept that “a rising tide lifts all boats.”

So what does this have to do with answering the question from our Providers about which maps to produce? The answer to that question is that I am not sure, but I can make sure that the Provider’s risk is low enough for them to make some reasonable choices, and to give them the agility to respond to market demands. Through this process, I believe that our collective intelligence will point Providers in the most profitable direction.

This marketplace will give those with the skills and those with the content the ability to connect as never before possible. The new network of connections will lead to the creation of new geo-content that will enhance and enrich the lives of our community. And our community will profit from it because we will know which maps to make.