Location-based services: technical and business issues

Geographical Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies are expanding their traditional applications to embrace a stream of consumer-focused, location-based applications. Through an integration with handheld devices capable of wireless communication and mobile computing, a wide range of what may be generically referred to as 'Location-Based Services' (LBS) may be offered to mobile users. A location-based service is able to provide targeted spatial information to mobile workers and consumers. These include utility location information, personal or asset tracking, concierge and route-guidance information, to name just a few of the possible LBS. The technologies and applications of LBS will play an ever increasingly important role in the modern, mobile, always-connected society. This paper endeavours to provide some background to the technology underlying location-based services, and to discuss some issues related to developing and launching LBS. These include whether wireless mobile technologies are ready to support LBS, which mobile positioning technologies can be used and what are their shortcomings, and how GIS developers manipulate spatial information to generate appropriate map images on mobile devices (such as cell phones and PDAs). In addition, the authors discuss such issues as interoperability, privacy protection and the market demand for LBS. Electronic Publication