It’s no secret that retail and real estate have been disrupted over the past decade. Traditional Retailers are learning to co-exist with ecommerce giants and satisfy the demands of the “I want it now” consumer, while real estate companies are witnessing a paradigm shift in the way both individuals and organizations use, rent and buy property in an era of flexible workspace and short-term leases.

The future of location intelligence relies on systems capable of analyzing and visualizing vast amounts of data that respond quickly to user interactions and queries. Vector-based, client-side technology provides this foundation.

With McKinsey estimating that the Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to make an economic impact of $3.9 trillion to $11.1 trillion a year by 2025, IoT has evolved from a buzzword to a reality that businesses can’t afford to ignore.

IoT—or the linking of the physical world with the digital one—is fundamentally concerned with issues related to Location Intelligence (from sensors monitoring traffic, to indoor mapping) so it’s no surprise that IoT will lead to major improvements and developments in the smart city, retail, and real estate industries.

Here are 3 location intelligence IoT trends to keep an eye on in 2018.

With significant buzz on social media and in the press and an uptick in industry analysis and research, Location Intelligence is more important and present than ever. Still, there remains only one conference devoted to all things LI. CARTO Locations Madrid, the 2nd annual Location Intelligence Summit, brought together attendees from all over the globe, and next week Locations comes to New York.

One of several exciting announcements coming out of CARTO Locations Madrid was the launch of Airship, CARTO’s new front-end library for Location Intelligence apps. Airship, along with CARTO.js 4.0 and the new Developer Center, is a part of CARTO’s strategy to empower developers with the tools to build their own custom Location Intelligence applications and solutions to answer today’s varied and complex business questions.

Established in 2011 at the High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea, The Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation is a project lead by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in concert with 161 countries, 56 international organisations, and additional partners across the public and private sectors.

Modern connectivity has produced a new way of understanding spatial relations, often transcending administrative boundaries in favor of functional geographies. And while our planet’s political borders are far from obsolete, the growing sense of “connectography”, what author Parag Khanna defines as the geographical layer of interconnectedness, alongside a rising environmental consciousness has spurred public/private partnerships that collaborate on the projects fighting to protect the Earth, its natural resources, and fragile ecosystems.

Traffic congestion is one of the biggest problems facing today’s cities, posing a serious challenge for traffic managers and urban planners. Accelerated population growth means that the number of vehicles in cities is growing exponentially, and to fix a problem as complex as traffic congestion, municipal leaders need innovative solutions that understand today’s connected commuter.

To celebrate World Water Day 2018, we partnered with Vizzuality to host WaterHack 2018. During this environmental and social datathon, participants analyzed and visualized survey data collected by ONGAWA, a NGO promoting human development and social change with the help of new data sharing technologies.

We’re one week out from the start of CARTO Locations Madrid!