Current Status and Development Outlook of GIS Technology in the Context of IT Application Innovation

This article is excerpted from “Geographic Information Industry Blue Book: China Geographic Information Industry Development Report (2023)“

Current Status and Development Outlook of GIS Technology in the Context of IT Application InnovationBy Liang Shijie, Tian Qing, Li Shaohua1. Introduction

In the past 20 years, driven by the rapid development of information technology (IT) and the national application demand, the technology and industry of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in China have developed rapidly. The application scope of GIS software has deepened into almost all industries and fields in the construction of a digital economy, digital government, digital society, and digital ecological construction in digital China. GIS software has become the most important information infrastructure in the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. In addition, the United States has intensified its technology sanctions against China, necessitating the localization of core technologies in the IT industry chain, continuously overcoming technical difficulties, and preventing monopolies such as “neck-choking”. Therefore, the development of autonomous and controllable GIS technology and industry ecology is imperative.

GIS software, especially GIS basic software (commonly referred to as GIS basic platforms), is positioned in the middle of information systems, managing all important sensitive information and production factors related to location, including natural resources, mineral resources, and major engineering facilities. It is also an indispensable foundational software in current digital construction, making GIS basic software a crucial component of information security, industrial security, and even national security.

This article systematically reviews the construction of GIS technology under the innovation of IT applications in China, focuses on analyzing the current development status and outlook of GIS software in China, clarifies the prominent issues in the current development of the geographic information industry, and proposes countermeasures and suggestions for the issues faced by the current GIS software technology and industry development, providing guiding solutions for the innovation and development of China’s geographic information industry ecology through typical case applications, which is of great significance for the healthy and sustainable development of the geographic information industry in China.

2. Current Status of GIS Software Development in China

The China Geographic Information Industry Association’s “China Geographic Information Industry Development Report (2022)” shows that in 2021, the growth rate of China’s geographic information industry reached 9.2%, with a total output value of 752.4 billion yuan, an increase of 2.7 percentage points from the previous year. The compound annual growth rate of total output value in the geographic information industry in China has been 11.5% over the past five years and 17.5% over the past decade. It can be seen that in the past ten years, the growth rate of the industry has shown a trend of high in the early years and gradually stabilizing.

In addition, the GIS software industry in China has a relatively low share in the geographic information field. According to data from 2022, the scale of the GIS software industry is about 31 billion yuan. GIS software is divided into GIS basic software platforms and GIS application software, with the market scale of GIS basic software platforms accounting for about 5% of the GIS software field, approximately 1.55 billion yuan. After decades of development, China’s autonomous GIS basic software has achieved remarkable results in market share, technical level, and industrial chain, mainly reflected in the following aspects:

(1) Market Share

The application of domestic and foreign GIS basic software in China has different development histories. Foreign GIS companies entered the Chinese market as early as the 1980s. Due to the late start of China’s autonomous GIS basic software, the vast majority of early government and defense informatization work adopted GIS basic software from the American company Esri. Before 2010, Esri’s GIS basic software almost held a monopoly. According to data from the Industrial Information Network of China, in the second national land survey project in 2007, China’s autonomous GIS basic software projects accounted for only about 20%, while foreign GIS basic software held an absolute advantage.

However, with changes in the domestic market and the complexity and diversity of domestic user needs, foreign GIS platforms struggled to respond to localized demands in a timely manner, causing significant difficulties for users. At the same time, the high cost of packaged products deterred some users. After 2010, the application of China’s autonomous GIS basic software developed rapidly, and its market share gradually surpassed that of foreign GIS basic software. According to relevant market research institutions, by 2022, the market share of autonomous GIS brands in China had exceeded 50%, and the market share of autonomous GIS basic software had surpassed that of foreign GIS basic software.

(2) Technical Level

After more than 20 years of technological innovation and practical application accumulation, the functionality, performance, security, and stability of China’s GIS basic software have continuously improved, and market share has gradually expanded under policy support and active promotion by enterprises. Currently, a pattern has formed in the industry where China and the United States are both advancing side by side, each with its strengths. China’s autonomous GIS basic software has caught up and surpassed in many core technologies and performance. Experts have pointed out that in the fields of scientific research and cartography, American GIS software has richer accumulation and holds certain advantages; in the development direction of new GIS technologies aimed at production, such as cloud GIS and big data GIS, the software levels of both countries are comparable; while in 3D GIS technology and cross-platform GIS technology, China’s autonomous GIS software is significantly ahead.

China’s GIS software has formed a complete product system, covering the entire process of software products that support the collection, storage, processing, publishing, mapping and visualization, spatial decision analysis, and application development design of basic geographic information data. This includes desktop GIS software platform products, server GIS software platform products, GIS portal software platform products, GIS operation and maintenance management software platform products, mobile GIS software development platform products, and component-based GIS software development platform products. All types of products have achieved complete independent development of core algorithms and main code by domestic related manufacturers.

In the past decade, China’s autonomous GIS basic software has been widely applied in the field of natural resource informatization, accumulating a wealth of practical experience in the third national land survey, arable land protection, marine disasters, forest and grass protection, geological disaster prevention and management, among others. Many provinces, cities, and counties have been operating land information systems built on autonomous GIS basic software for over ten years, and their safety and reliability have been significantly tested. In addition to the natural resource informatization field, as of the end of 2022, the application of GIS basic software has exceeded 100 sub-industries, covering most fields of government informatization, enterprise informatization, and public informatization services.

(3) Industrial Chain

The autonomous industry chain is complex and large, mainly consisting of four parts: basic hardware, basic software, application software, and information security. Among them, the chip and sensor in the basic hardware layer, as well as the basic software layer and information security layer, are relatively high-profile links in the autonomous industry.

As an important carrier of geographic information, GIS itself is also part of the basic software in the autonomous industry. At the same time, the development of autonomous GIS cannot be separated from the support of other autonomous software and hardware environments. Currently, GIS basic software adapts to the autonomous software and hardware environment, mainly including domestic processors (CPUs) such as Loongson, Feiteng, Kunpeng, Zhaoxin, Haiguang, and Shenwei; graphics processing units (GPUs) such as Moore Threads and Jingjia Micro; servers from Great Wall, Inspur, Huawei, and Baode; operating systems such as Kylin, Tongxin UOS, Euler, and Hongmeng; databases from Dameng, Hango, Renmin University Jinxiang, Nanda General, and Shenzhou General; middleware from Oriental Tong, Kingdee, etc. Overall, the adaptation of GIS basic software has fully covered the mainstream autonomous software and hardware environment in the market.

In addition, China has basically formed a GIS software industry chain centered around GIS basic software, covering upstream geographic information collection and processing software, surveying and mapping 3D modeling software, and downstream application software development services and various specialized software in various application fields, including Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, City Information Modeling (CIM) software, etc. There is even a trend towards integration of remote sensing software and GIS software. The GIS software industry chain connects GIS basic software manufacturers, application developers, system integrators, data providers, consulting service providers, general computer software and hardware manufacturers, research institutions, and end-users, jointly promoting the development and expansion of the industry. For example, GIS companies in China have formed ecological partnerships with hundreds of application software developers.

In summary, China’s autonomous GIS basic software industry chain has basically formed, initially establishing a systematic and ecological development trend, and related products and services have transitioned from “basically usable” to “usable and easy to use”.

(4) Application Coverage

In terms of product types, GIS basic software has comprehensively covered the types of foreign products. The product-level applications of GIS data processing and secondary development have played a significant role in urban planning management, government management, resource management, and transportation. The product system and technical system related to 2D GIS and 3D GIS have achieved complete autonomy. Among them, the technical system of “RS+GIS+BIM” (where RS stands for remote sensing) is currently still in a rapid development stage and has played a significant role in the real-scene 3D China, CIM, digital twin, and smart city markets.

Additionally, with the development of China’s Beidou dual-mode and other navigation technologies, GIS has integrated with Beidou navigation technology, gradually being applied in geographic information data collection and mapping in industries such as transportation and natural resources.

3. Construction of Autonomous GIS Technology in China

(1) Overview of Core Autonomous Technologies

After decades of development, China’s GIS basic software has gradually evolved from initial component GIS software to a cloud-integrated GIS product system, and its core technology system has changed with the development of GIS and IT technologies. Meanwhile, some domestic manufacturers with forward-looking strategic vision have laid out and restructured autonomous GIS technology many years ago, successively initiating product research and development work to actively prepare for international challenges.

From a technical layering perspective, China’s autonomous GIS basic software products include the underlying data support system for GIS, the underlying analysis system for GIS, and all upper-layer application systems.

1. Core Autonomous GIS Technologies

Core GIS technologies, based on a controllable spatial data engine, achieve cross-departmental and cross-industry processing and storage management of various data formats and types, supporting diverse data conversion and editing, and comprehensive data quality checks; based on self-developed spatial analysis algorithm models, they provide efficient geographic spatial analysis; based on a rule-driven automated mapping processing framework, they offer a rich set of mapping editing tools, mapping resources, mapping models, and mapping engines, with metadata-driven one-click map beautification, achieving database and rule-driven digital map production; based on a unified 2D and 3D rendering engine, they enable integrated map expression and thematic expression, widely applied in national defense military, new basic surveying and mapping, and production of special maps for aviation and navigation.

2. Autonomous GIS Security Technologies

The GIS basic software encompasses a series of supporting capabilities for managing, processing, and analyzing GIS spatial data. Currently, GIS basic software has been applied in nearly a hundred sub-industry fields in three major directions: government, enterprise, and national defense, such as land, surveying, planning, environmental protection, municipal, real estate, transportation, water conservancy, public security, emergency, commerce, agriculture, forestry, meteorology, ocean, tourism, electricity, pipelines, logistics, and military. With the rapid development of mobile internet and IoT, geographic information applications based on spatial technology are gradually expanding from specialized fields to the daily lives of the general public. Among them, GIS security technology plays a crucial role. GIS security can be summarized into four layers: hardware, operating system, spatial database, and GIS platform, specifically as follows.

1) Hardware Layer

For standalone GIS architectures, the security risks of the hardware layer mainly include the stability and availability of the equipment; for browser-server (B/S) architecture GIS, it is also necessary to consider hardware factors in the network transmission of geographic information (such as communication lines, bridges, switches, routers, etc.). Currently, many domestic hardware manufacturers in the autonomous ecosystem can provide complete self-produced hardware facilities and cloud platforms, and GIS basic software has undergone extensive compatibility testing and certification with them, ensuring stable and smooth operation, thus fully guaranteeing the security of infrastructure, such as various domestic servers from Huawei Taishan, Inspur, Great Wall, New H3C, and Deepin Cloud platforms.

2) Operating System Layer

GIS software is built on a specific operating system, so its security is closely related to the robustness of the operating system. The security risks of GIS software at the operating system layer are twofold: the security architecture of the operating system itself and the core applications within the operating system. Currently, GIS basic software has been adapted to many domestic operating system manufacturers in the autonomous ecosystem, fully supporting various self-developed operating systems such as Kylin, Deepin, Euler, Zhongke Fangde, and Tongxin UOS, thus ensuring the security at the operating system layer.

3) Spatial Database

The spatial database is an important barrier for storing and protecting spatial information. Currently, domestic GIS basic software provides fully autonomous spatial data storage engines and distributed storage engines, supporting both file-type data storage solutions of self-developed core technologies and data storage solutions based on autonomous spatial databases such as Dameng, Huawei GaussDB, KingBase, GBase, BeyonDB, and Inspur KDB, providing users with safe and reliable data storage and management support, allowing users to flexibly choose based on demand.

4) GIS Platform

The software supply chain is divided into three major links: development, delivery, and operation. Chinese GIS companies have a complete software development management system that emphasizes the security of software development, delivery, and operation throughout the entire lifecycle, ensuring the reliability of the software supply chain.

Development: The source code of mainstream domestic GIS software is mainly self-developed code, which has undergone security and stability testing to ensure development safety.

Delivery: The mainstream domestic GIS software has fully mastered the relevant core technologies and will not experience chain-breaking risks due to changes in foreign commercial software licensing restrictions, discontinuation of open-source technologies, or foreign policy-related export controls, thus eliminating delivery safety issues.

Operation: Domestic GIS software can fully adapt to the autonomous ecosystem, providing users with integrated solutions of self-developed software and hardware from multiple levels, including chips, operating systems, databases, and servers, thus fully ensuring operational safety.

In summary, the autonomous ecosystem provides security guarantees for the GIS supply chain.

(2) Analysis of Core Autonomous Technologies

1. Cross-Platform GIS Technology

Based on a standard C++ reconstruction of a unified cross-platform GIS kernel, GIS series platform software is developed on this kernel, with specifications for memory stream processing and data storage methods established at the C++ interface layer, enabling GIS C++ components to operate normally across different CPU architectures. Utilizing the characteristics of C++ language for one-time writing and multi-platform compilation, supported by high-performance, native cross-platform GIS technology, it not only supports various CPUs, operating systems, databases, and development languages but also builds heterogeneous CPU GIS platforms. It also possesses unlimited expansion capabilities to adapt to technological changes, achieving a solution that not only addresses high-performance cross-platform operational issues but also breaks technical barriers, realizing multi-end integration and interconnectivity, enriching GIS applicable scenarios, and lowering application thresholds, thus laying a solid foundation for the rapid development of domestic GIS technologies and product systems in the future.

In this context, various GIS manufacturers have joined the adaptation camp, successively launching comprehensive adaptation strategies for various chips, operating systems, databases, and middleware in the autonomous ecosystem, continuously expanding the adaptation team as cross-platform technology develops.

2. 3D GIS Technology

The key technology of 3D GIS is based on the integrated framework of 2D and 3D GIS technology, further expanding the full spatial data model and its analysis and computing capabilities; more comprehensively integrating various heterogeneous data sources such as oblique photography models, BIM, laser point clouds, manually modeled data, pipeline data, geological bodies, etc., establishing open standards such as the “Spatial 3D Model Data Format” (S3M), “Spatial 3D Model Data Service Interface” (S3M), and “Full Spatial 3D Model Data Format and Service Interface Specification” (M3D) to improve the 3D GIS standard system; achieving efficient full-process management of 3D data based on distributed geographic processing tools; integrating new technologies such as WebGL, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and game engines to promote the construction of integrated outdoor and indoor, macro and micro, and space, ground, and underground digital twin spaces, empowering full spatial 3D GIS applications.

3D GIS technology achieves intelligent processing, integration, and standardization of multi-source heterogeneous data in full space, providing strong technical support for the digital foundation of smart cities and the construction of real-scene 3D China, as well as robust technical guarantees for intelligent governance of cities.

3. Cloud Computing GIS Technology

In recent years, cloud computing technology has played an increasingly important role in the development of geographic information technology. Key cloud computing GIS technologies are based on full spatial information data, integrating and managing GIS data resources, service resources, cloud application resources, and other cross-domain spatiotemporal information resources, achieving integrated storage and efficient management of spatiotemporal big data, providing high-performance various map services and analysis services, supporting cluster deployment and operation management of services, and meeting the online sharing and collaboration needs of various GIS resources, thus providing integrated capabilities for spatial big data storage, computing, operation, and application at different levels for cloud storage, cloud servers, cloud operation, and cloud applications, enhancing the efficiency of data acquisition, processing, and analysis response, and enabling interconnectivity between public departments and civil enterprises in land, planning, transportation, forestry, etc., providing more comprehensive geographic information services for government decision-making, urban management, and social service industries.

4. Big Data GIS Technology

Big data GIS technology deeply integrates underlying GIS core algorithms with distributed computing frameworks, providing big data full lifecycle functional extensions, forming a scalable big data GIS kernel. Based on this, it continuously integrates the latest achievements in spatial information theory and big data technology, establishing a big data GIS system architecture and technical system.

With breakthroughs in technical challenges such as spatial big data storage, computing, and visualization, a cloud-integrated big data GIS basic software has been formed, with products covering a wide range of software forms from component products, server products to multi-end products.

5. Artificial Intelligence GIS Technology

Key technologies of artificial intelligence GIS are based on mainstream artificial intelligence technologies and a rich library of artificial intelligence models, integrating geographic intelligence to build intelligent GIS management tools, process handling tools, and function libraries, broadening new application scenarios for intelligent GIS, and supporting intelligent GIS applications across various industry fields.

Based on data statistics, machine learning, and deep learning data science computing libraries, it enhances the predictive ability of models, supporting applications such as binary classification, target monitoring, multi-class classification, and change detection. It integrates spatial machine learning development libraries, providing data science services that support online data processing, modeling, mining, and analysis needs based on spatial data.

In summary, compared to similar GIS products abroad, China’s GIS started relatively late and still has certain gaps in some areas. For example, in GIS data production, foreign remote sensing technologies and 3D modeling technologies have more advantages, with strong data production capabilities and fast updates; in data collection and input for GIS, foreign GIS basic software started earlier and is widely used in the global market, supporting or interfacing with many data formats; in GIS spatial analysis models, foreign GIS basic software has relatively richer model accumulation and more comprehensive functions; in GIS technology integration and innovation, big data GIS technology and artificial intelligence GIS technology originated abroad, and some underlying model algorithms still come from abroad. However, after rapid development in recent years, the gap between China’s autonomous GIS basic software and similar foreign products in terms of technology and functionality is gradually narrowing. Today, China’s autonomous GIS basic software has mastered the core technologies of GIS and has surpassed in some fields. After several years of adaptation and optimization in the autonomous environment, China’s GIS basic software has achieved safe and stable operation in the autonomous environment, and many GIS functions’ performance indicators are comparable under both ARM and x86 platforms.

Currently, the GIS autonomous ecosystem has moved from the initial stage of basic adaptation work to a stage of comprehensive sustainable development, and autonomous solutions have been successively released. However, there are still a few functions that cannot be fully realized autonomously due to various factors. For instance, in terms of data, most of the current BIM software is foreign, and the BIM data formats produced are challenging to read directly in the autonomous environment; in terms of databases, commonly used Access databases do not support China’s autonomous environment; regarding technology, for example, the application of GeoAI technology often requires powerful chip support, and the chips in China’s autonomous ecosystem are still insufficient to meet the demand.

4. Application Status and Typical Cases of GIS Software in China

In 2020, China’s autonomous ecosystem has formed a basic embryonic form. In the beginning of “Digital China” in 2023, with the application landing of government and industry users, the related industry will usher in greater market opportunities. Whether in the construction of digital infrastructure or in facilitating the circulation of data resources, there is a need for an independent and strong digital technology innovation system and digital security barrier based on autonomy. Currently, the technical solutions for autonomy are primarily applied in government, military, aerospace, banking, and other industries with high confidentiality requirements, and adopting autonomous integrated software and hardware technology solutions has become the first choice.

(1) Provincial Land Spatial Basic Information Platform

User Unit: Provincial Natural Resources Department.

Project Introduction: Due to the original land resources “One Map” platform being developed based on Microsoft’s .NET framework, it could not operate in a domestic operating system environment. To respond to national policies and promote the construction of a unified land spatial planning map, ensuring that the land spatial basic information platform can operate normally in a domestic software and hardware environment, the Provincial Natural Resources Department coordinated the arrangement, with the Land Spatial Planning Bureau taking the lead and the Provincial Surveying and Mapping Geographic Information Technology Center undertaking the project construction work. As the only provincial-level platform supporting business applications, the provincial land spatial basic information platform manages a large amount of sensitive spatial data, with high data security requirements. The fully autonomous technology system can fundamentally guarantee the platform’s operation and information security. The platform is built based on Huawei’s Kunpeng ecosystem, combining SuperMap’s leading GIS software technology with Huawei’s powerful computing hardware platform, forming a complementary advantage of software and hardware, constructing a secure and controllable technology system, collaboratively building a three-tier provincial, municipal, and county-level unified construction, hierarchical management, more comprehensive data, broader application, and smoother sharing of the land spatial basic information platform, providing data support, platform support, and technical guarantees for land spatial planning compilation, administrative approval, monitoring and regulation of land spatial development and utilization, and spatial decision-making analysis.

(2) Provincial Public Security Spatiotemporal Information Support Platform

User Unit: Provincial Public Security Department.

Project Introduction: Based on the actual needs of provincial political and legal work and development strategy positioning, the provincial party committee and provincial government proposed the construction of a political and legal informatization project, establishing a basic framework system for informatization construction of political and legal agencies, enhancing the technological informatization capabilities and levels of political and legal agencies, thus giving rise to this project. This project adopts a relatively advanced distributed architecture and cloud-native deployment approach, with performance and stability sufficient to meet provincial platform requirements. The project ultimately carries a large amount of attention points, road network, images, vector data across the province, as well as 3D models and points, lines, etc., for key controlled locations, with a total volume exceeding 10TB. In addition to geographic data, it also contains over a billion bytes of police business data across more than ten categories. It has undergone distributed storage transformation for basic geographic and public security topic data, providing efficient query and display capabilities, supporting decision-making for provincial safety emergencies.

(3) Municipal Natural Resources Autonomous Cloud and Big Data Service Platform

User Unit: Municipal Land Development and Consolidation Center.

Project Introduction: With the rapid development of the domestic autonomous field, the replacement of domestic software and hardware is imperative. The project of the municipal natural resources autonomous cloud and big data service platform established a domestic-oriented information infrastructure from the design phase. It ultimately procured Huawei ARM architecture chips, Taishan servers, New H3C cloud platform management systems, Dameng databases, and SuperMap cloud-native GIS platform software, utilizing a batch of domestic computers running the Kylin system, Huawei tablet terminals, and Shuguang servers from Zhongke Fangde, building a Dameng database cluster and a SuperMap cloud-native GIS platform. In conjunction with the actual business of natural resources, it developed 16 natural resources business applications, including site selection decision systems, natural resource land requisition systems, law enforcement supervision systems, agricultural land occupation investigation systems, remediation systems, and ecological red line systems.

All manufacturers worked together to use cloud-native technology to unify the scheduling and management of domestic informatization resources, achieving dynamic allocation and elastic expansion of resources. This project has paved the technical path for building a cloud-native GIS middle platform under domestic architecture, marking a milestone in promoting autonomous replacement in the field of natural resources.

(4) Municipal Spatiotemporal Big Data Platform

User Unit: Municipal Natural Resources and Planning Bureau.

Project Introduction: In recent years, the municipal informatization construction has achieved good results not only in network equipment, data construction, system construction, and external services but also through institutional reforms and innovations, exploring new management models in internal management, grassroots supervision, and external services. The Municipal Natural Resources and Planning Bureau, in collaboration with SuperMap, upgraded and optimized the land spatial basic information platform, summarizing various data based on rich land spatial big data, further exploring resource value. The platform, in line with actual business needs, configures analysis topics such as land approval and mining approval, providing immediate matching analysis tools for project location review; in promoting government approval, it realizes “comprehensive acceptance at the front desk, classified approval at the back end, and unified issuance at the window,” continuously optimizing the business environment, enhancing convenient services for the public, and promoting the deep integration of information technology with economic and social development, assisting the digital economy’s rise in the municipality.

(5) District GIS Platform Expansion

User Unit: District Government Data Management Center. Users include the following government departments: Water Conservancy Bureau, Regional Office, Civil Affairs Bureau, Agricultural Committee, Construction Management Committee, Urban Operation Center, District Police, Market Supervision Bureau, and Resource Planning Bureau.

Project Introduction: The district has enabled map service capabilities for the government extranet cloud center and internet center through the construction of cloud resource platforms and big data platforms. The project provides an overall autonomous cloud adaptation plan, including chips, operating systems, databases, middleware, and security software, and unifies the GIS platform while supplementing map services, building a GIS basic map (vector map data, image map data) service calling capability provided by the District Government Data Management Center to all departments and towns in the district. This helps improve government decision-making capabilities and urban management levels, assisting government decision-making.

5. Prominent Issues and Suggestions for GIS Software Development in China

Looking at the development history of GIS technology and industry in China, GIS technology and industry have made significant progress in various fields, such as being among the world’s leading ranks in 3D GIS technology; in the domestic market, China’s autonomous GIS products occupy a major market share; meanwhile, domestic GIS companies are increasingly active in the international geographic information market. However, we must also recognize that in the face of new historical opportunities, China’s geographic information technology innovation and industrial development still face many prominent issues. This article proposes targeted countermeasures and suggestions based on the main issues, including the following aspects.

(1) Increased Foreign Technology Control

In January 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security included “software for automatically analyzing geospatial images” in the control scope, which is part of the functionality of GIS software, such as artificial intelligence GIS. According to the specific content of this restriction order, we can summarize that the U.S. export restriction order involves key technologies including remote sensing image analysis, autonomous driving, unmanned aerial vehicles, and 3D spatial technology in the field of geographic spatial information terminal services, which mainly impact five downstream industries in the geographic information industry chain: communication and information technology, transportation and logistics, automobile manufacturing, enterprise services, and natural resource monitoring; and mainly affect five intelligent application fields of geographic information: smart cities, smart transportation, intelligent vehicles, intelligent enterprise services, and smart resources. According to expert analysis, the U.S. ban will have two impacts on relevant users who use American software: first, purchased American software cannot be upgraded, software defects cannot be resolved, or new software features cannot be used; second, when the number of users increases in application units, software license quantities cannot be expanded. Both situations could severely impact production or business operations, posing significant security risks.

At the same time, we also recognize that the U.S. behavior not only expands control policies from controlling “products” to controlling “technologies” but may also signal a broader range of controls targeting emerging technologies and basic technologies, which is an important signal of increased control over products of surveying and geographic information technology. Therefore, it deserves high attention. Currently, some users in finance and government are still using foreign GIS software products. Once the U.S. government expands the range of controlled products or technologies, it will have a significant impact on various departments in China, causing considerable losses to relevant user units, enterprises, and their business systems and engineering projects, severely affecting national security and industrial development.

Given that GIS basic software has special attributes, it is recommended to form a recommended product list of GIS basic software through indicator selection, enterprise evaluation, and product intellectual property review, clarifying the policy requirements that new purchases of GIS basic software in various government departments must be autonomous and controllable in confidential or non-confidential fields. At the same time, priority should be given to promoting the application of autonomous GIS basic software in informatization projects of government departments such as the Ministry of Natural Resources for the management of 3D three-dimensional spatiotemporal databases and land spatial planning management, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development for building design approval, the Ministry of Transportation for transportation management, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment for environmental governance business management.

(2) Inconsistent Industrial Standard Systems

On the one hand, the promulgation and enforcement of GIS standards that have been issued are insufficient, resulting in a disconnect between standard formulation and implementation, failing to meet actual requirements. For example, several domestic units have drafted, compiled, and published group standards such as “Spatial 3D Model Data Format” (T/CAGIS1-2019), “Spatial 3D Model Data Service Interface” (T/CAGIS 2—2020), and “Full Spatial 3D Model Data Format and Service Interface Specification” (T/CIIA 008-2021) to address issues of data format and data service interface exchange for 3D models. However, due to the limited effectiveness and role of group standards, they still cannot completely resolve the difficulties of data exchange and interoperability between different software in practical applications.

On the other hand, due to the late start of GIS in China and the fact that many GIS standards in China are developed independently, there is still a significant gap between China’s GIS standards and foreign ones, and the standard framework, system, and classification need to be further refined, actively connecting with international and new technologies. Specific countermeasures and suggestions are as follows:

1. Improve the Standard Formulation Work Mechanism

Further enrich the sub-technical committees. In response to the rapidly developing GIS technology field, it is recommended to add corresponding sub-technical committees under the National Geographic Information Standardization Technical Committee (SAC/TC 230). For example, establishing sub-technical committees for artificial intelligence and big data, incorporating relevant regulations from the “Guidelines for the Construction of National New Generation Artificial Intelligence Standard System” and the “Reference Model for Big Data Technology in Information Technology” into the GIS-related standard system, standardizing the formulation process of standards through top-level planning guidance by sub-technical committees, and encouraging local governments, enterprises, universities, and teams to actively participate.

2. Improve and Unify the Standard System

Data-related standards should be improved, and based on existing group standards, unified industry or national standards for 3D model data formats, 3D model data service interfaces, underground space information, and urban underground space data 3D modeling should be developed.

Management-related standards should be formulated. In response to the current trend of providing data, information, technical support, software, and various online or offline products and services through paid or free sharing methods, a set of operational rules for the industry should be established to clearly constrain and qualify the above products and services, standardizing industry development and protecting user rights. For example, establishing and improving the geographic information software standard system.

3. Strengthen Standard Implementation and Access

In response to the issue of insufficient enforcement, it is recommended to make GIS standards a prerequisite for government procurement access.

4. Strengthen Standard Integration and International Contribution

By absorbing and integrating the common and essence parts of the subdivided standards established by various industries, groups, localities, and enterprises, the national GIS standard system should be improved.

Given China’s leading advantages in information technology and GIS technology, it is necessary to accelerate the formulation and implementation of relevant standards and integrate them into the international GIS standard ecosystem based on corresponding technical activity units of the autonomous working committee and other standard organizations. For example, referencing China’s big data standards to refine and standardize big data GIS standards, contributing to and reinforcing WG international standards, embedding China’s industrial demands and product advantages. By addressing the shortcomings of existing series of standards and integrating with organizations like the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), we can provide a model for deep integration of domestic standards with existing international standards.

(3) Insufficient R&D Funding Investment

Relevant data show that the current R&D funding investment of mainstream GIS manufacturers in China is less than 10% of that of the U.S. Esri company’s ArcGIS software R&D funding investment. Domestically, according to publicly reported data from listed companies, in 2022, SuperMap Software’s R&D investment was 251 million yuan, accounting for 15.7% of its revenue; Aerospace Hongtu’s R&D investment was 296 million yuan, accounting for 12% of its revenue. Comparatively, according to data from PwC, Esri’s total revenue in 2019 reached $1.35 billion, and based on its official claim of investing 30% of sales revenue in R&D each year, the R&D expenses for that year amounted to $405 million, equivalent to more than 2 billion yuan, nearly 10 times SuperMap Software’s R&D expenses in 2022, and about 100 times the R&D expenses of most major domestic software companies in 2022. Although domestic geographic information companies have significantly increased their R&D funding, the investment level is still far lower than that of well-known foreign companies. The strength of R&D funding investment is an important indicator of the level of industrial development and technological innovation capability, and the strength of funding investment in the geographic information field significantly impacts geographic information technological innovation activities, reflecting the strength of technological innovation capabilities to some extent.

To fully stimulate domestic geographic information companies’ enthusiasm for R&D in frontier technologies such as cross-platform GIS, 3D GIS, cloud computing GIS, big data GIS, and artificial intelligence GIS, it is recommended to encourage enterprises to broaden financing channels, increase efforts to attract social capital, adopt more flexible financing methods to disperse the risk of enterprise R&D investment; it is also recommended that the government introduce relevant incentive policies, such as formulating further tax incentives to encourage enterprise R&D innovation, and prioritizing the procurement of GIS basic software in the government procurement list.

(4) Lagging Education Promotion in Universities

Currently, China’s GIS technology level has reached an international leading level, but due to its late start, the software industry ecology, user groups, and user habits abroad have already formed, making it difficult to change. Many universities and research institutes in China still use early or free foreign low-version software in teaching and research in related majors, with relatively backward technical means, resulting in a disconnect from domestic and international technological developments. This leads to students being insufficiently informed about the level of GIS technology development and software products in China during their studies, making it challenging to address current GIS technology bottlenecks and problems in their research direction choices, often opting for foreign software products and open-source products during the research process, which impacts the sustainable development of China’s autonomous GIS software.

It is suggested to carry out activities promoting autonomous GIS software products in campuses, strengthening education and popularization work, implementing the requirements of the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Construction of New Educational Infrastructure to Build a High-Quality Educational Support System” and the “Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Modern Vocational Education,” and universities in China should procure domestic autonomous GIS software, maintaining the use of the latest version of software products. At the same time, encourage domestic autonomous GIS enterprises to provide free or low-cost autonomous GIS products to universities, along with high-quality technical support services.

First, strengthen cooperation between industry, academia, and research. Carry out activities promoting domestic autonomous GIS software products in campuses, enhancing students’ understanding of domestic GIS technology development and software products, and boosting confidence in domestic GIS technology and self-developed software products. Encourage outstanding domestic enterprises to enter campuses to give specialized technical reports and speeches, including but not limited to the current state of technological development and excellent GIS case studies, expanding students’ understanding of the GIS industry and deepening their comprehension of the GIS sector. Encourage enterprises to collaborate with universities for R&D, integrating resources from all parties to tackle core GIS technologies.

Secondly, in accordance with the requirements of the “Implementation Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Deepening the Reform of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education in Higher Education Institutions,” the Ministry of Education or organizations such as the China Geographic Information Industry Association and the China Society of Surveying and Mapping should build a platform for GIS innovation and entrepreneurship projects for college students, hosting a national college student GIS innovation and entrepreneurship competition to stimulate college students’ enthusiasm for innovation and entrepreneurship and promote rapid development of GIS industry technology.

6. Outlook for GIS Software Development in China

Benefiting from the dual drive of rapidly developing information technology and GIS application demand, after nearly 20 years of technological innovation and practical application accumulation, China’s GIS basic software has formed a pattern of advancing side by side with the U.S., each with its strengths. China’s autonomous GIS basic software has caught up and surpassed in core technologies and performance.

Market demand is the driving force behind the development of GIS basic software. Currently, the geographic information industry is experiencing rapid development both domestically and internationally, with various industries placing great emphasis on the construction of GIS system applications and integrating them as a crucial part of information infrastructure.

(1) Government Policy Drives Rapid Development of Geographic Information Industry

The degree of emphasis and investment by different countries’ governments on geographic information technology determines the level of technology in that country, which in turn determines the level of industrial development in that country. The Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of the geographic information industry. Since 2013, the state has successively issued policy documents such as “Opinions on Promoting the Development of the Geographic Information Industry” and “Long-term Planning Outline for National Basic Surveying and Mapping (2015-2030)” to create a favorable development environment for geographic information technology. By the end of 2021, the number of units engaged in the geographic information industry in China exceeded 164,000, with over 16,000 surveying and mapping qualification units; as of June 2022, there were 67 listed geographic information and related business enterprises across 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the central government will allocate more than 10 billion yuan in reward funds through special funds for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, focusing on supporting over 1,000 national-level specialized and innovative “little giant” enterprises for high-quality development, promoting these enterprises to play a better demonstration role. The rapid development of the geographic information industry is inseparable from the ample policy support and strategic guarantees provided by the state.

(2) Multi-Technology Integration Promotes the Expansion of Geographic Information Industry Boundaries

Driven by new technologies such as next-generation internet, mobile internet, IoT, and cloud computing, user demands have upgraded; users now require not just raw geographic data but also processed geographic information with intelligent functions. Enterprises that provide platform services, including network services and customized services, have emerged. For example, in the case of cloud computing, traditional geographic information technology has gradually extended into various new products such as cloud geographic information storage, cloud navigation, and cloud GIS platforms, virtualizing various related resources scattered across the network, allowing each access terminal to purchase geographic information-related services through the network. The construction of GIS systems has gradually become an important support and key link in the information infrastructure across various industries.

Especially in the construction of new smart cities, driven by new technologies such as the internet, mobile internet, IoT, and cloud computing, GIS has become an essential spatial digital foundation as a carrier of geographic intelligence technology, and it will play a greater value in more industry applications, becoming an indispensable information infrastructure for the construction of digital China.

(3) Big Data 3D GIS Cross-Platform Capability Supports Real-Scene 3D

As the pace of national real-scene 3D China and CIM platform construction accelerates, supported by the cross-platform capabilities of various manufacturers’ products, provinces (regions, cities) are launching digital twins and new smart city construction, promoting digital transformation, with strong market demand for 3D GIS and big data GIS.

Currently, domestic leading manufacturers have constructed systems based on high-performance solutions that can efficiently load hundreds of square kilometers of oblique photography model data, with stable and smooth loading and operation, providing a good browsing experience, which can play an important supporting role in digital foundation construction and subsequent analysis applications. In the autonomous era, the fully domestic environment of big data 3D GIS can ensure the secure implementation of military and government informatization projects.

(4) Portable Office Promotes Rapid Development of Mobile GIS Products

The wave of mobile applications and collaboration based on the internet has driven the professional GIS functions to be utilized by the public. The mobile application brought by mobile GIS products is not merely about “using on the move”; it represents a comprehensive technological transformation and complete re-engineering of data workflows.

Mobile GIS products free workers from traditional cumbersome tasks through mobile devices and network collaboration, enabling them to complete professional work anytime and anywhere. In addition to traditional SOA service models, it also supports integrated applications of message buses, providing better means for achieving peer-to-peer computing (P2P), spatial collaboration, and real-time exchange, publishing, sharing, and online analysis of spatial data. It supports various routing modes of message buses such as delivery, mass sending, filtering, and enhancement, with broad application prospects in emergency command, IoT applications, resource and environmental monitoring, urban traffic management, and social applications, as well as instant sharing of big data.

The mobile internet and GIS have begun to penetrate various aspects of life, marking the arrival of the socialized era of GIS.

7. Conclusion

Geographic information has always been regarded by governments of various countries as a “national treasure, not to be given to others.” Geographic Information Systems are used to provide a wide range of geographic spatial information services, and mastering geographic information data on the distribution of various key facilities and resources in a country means having insight into the country’s defense and economic lifeline.

In recent years, China’s GIS industry has developed rapidly, and its technological innovation capability has significantly improved. Combined with the development of the technology software and hardware fields in the autonomous ecosystem, it has shown a transition from usable to easy to use, with overall service levels surpassing those of foreign product ecosystems, achieving project implementations across multiple industry fields. The integration of big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence technologies with GIS has brought new opportunities and challenges to the development of the geographic information industry.

We call on users from various industries to prepare for the future, enhancing their confidence in the autonomous ecosystem. Currently, the autonomous ecosystem has sufficient strength to support real project practice through continuous building and strengthening of the technologies at each link in the chain. Autonomous upgrading is an inevitable path for the informatization reform of government and enterprises, and all parties need to act as key variables in solving problems. All industries should work together from both the supply and demand sides to continuously empower the rapid and high-quality development of the autonomous industry chain.

This article is excerpted from “Geographic Information Industry Blue Book: China Geographic Information Industry Development Report (2023)“Articles from this book will be shared successively, please stay tuned.Report live broadcast replay QR CodeScan or press and hold to recognize the QR code below to watch

“Geographic Information Industry Blue Book: China Geographic Information Industry Development Report (2024)” will be released at the 2024 China Geographic Information Industry Conference, please stay tuned.

↓↓ Learn more about industry news ↓↓

Please mark me as star mark★

Source: China Geographic Information Industry Association (Please indicate the source when reprinting, and add the link to this article in “Read the original text”)

Editor: Li JuanInitial Review: Tian LeiFinal Review: Yu Qing

>>Association Notifications

• Notice on the 2024 China Geographic Information Industry Conference (No. 1)

• Notice on the Selection of “Innovation Show” Display for the 2024 China Geographic Information Industry Conference

• Notice on Holding the 2024 National Surveying and Geographic Information “Dual-Teacher” Teacher Training Course

• Pre-notice on the Evaluation of Geographic Information Related Software

• List of National Drone Operators Training Institutions and License Examination Points

• Notice on the 11th Cross-Strait and Hong Kong and Macau GIS Development Seminar and Call for Papers (No. 1)

• Notice on the Construction of a Geographic Information Industry Investment and Financing Information Platform

• Call for Papers for the China Geographic Information Industry Association’s “Voice of Innovation” Thematic Promotion Activities

• Notice on Paying Association Fees

• Notice on Organizing Attention to the Association’s Official Account, Designated Correspondents, and Contributions to the Official Account

>> Recent News

• Academician Li Deren Awarded the 2023 National Highest Science and Technology Award

• Ministry of Natural Resources: 2023 Excellent Scientific and Technological Innovation Platform Highlights Overview

• Blue Book Article | Academician Liu Jingnan et al.: Spatiotemporal Intelligence Empowering Digital Economy

• The magazine “Seeking Truth” published an important article by General Secretary Xi Jinping titled “Creating a New Situation for High-Quality Development in China”

• Ministry of Natural Resources: Publicizing the Approval Draft of 8 Industry Standards Related to Survey Markers, Real Estate Registration, etc.

Call for Papers

“Entrepreneur Style”“Voice of Innovation”“Member News”“New Product Release”“Industry-Academia-Research Cooperation”“International Market”“Specialized and Innovative New”“Popular Science”“Foreseeing 2024” and other thematic promotions (columns) are ongoing, welcome to contribute!

Contact: Li Juan 13370105015 (WeChat)

Email: [email protected]

To read more wonderful articles, please follow the Blue Book