Airborne Data for the Millions

Global Imaging Technologies (GIT) is a small, privately owned company founded in 1999 by CEO Ryan Johnson and located in Hunt Valley, Maryland, close to Baltimore (USA). The early years were spent mainly focusing on developing and testing quality airborne systems, and in 2006 the company took to market the resulting offspring: metric digital cameras, multispectral sensors, and flight-planning and data-processing software.

The first phase of our business plan involved a small team of dedicated people developing two airborne remote-sensing systems: metric digital cameras and multispectral sensors. In addition they developed innovative algorithms that allow accurate and automatic processing of datasets. We entered the second phase of our business plan in 2006, when the sensor systems and processing software were ready for the market. In August 2006 we embarked on a global marketing and education campaign to present the products to potential clients in the industry.

Mission and Revenue
Our mission is to provide the world marketplace with the most advanced imaging technologies. Our main business consists of providing integrated imaging products and services solutions, including digital sensors and data-collection data on the one hand, and processing and flight-planning software on the other. In addition to CEO Ryan Johnson, current key personnel are senior software engineer John Davis and director of business development Peter Schwarzer. Since the firm took its product to market only in 2006, financial figures for that year are not available; revenues for 2007 are expected to be in excess of US$ 500,000, an estimate based on sales forecasts coupled with strategic partnership agreements signed over the last couple of months.

Prospects and Hurdles
Our target market is global in outlook; we provide global data-acquisition capabilities for clients that have established themselves in the geospatial industry or are looking to find their own geo-related niche market. We support surveyors who cannot afford to acquire a digital sensor, and we collaborate with clients in emerging-market countries by providing sensor systems and data-processing services. Our technology enables us to work out low-cost solution packages that benefit both the client and the company. Usually our solutions comprise a combination of making a system available for as little as possible and reserving the right to process to RAW level any data collected using it. We can operate and export our sensors worldwide; the only limits are imposed by trade embargoes on sensor technology or its components. Other hurdles often come in the form of governments uncomfortable with aerial survey. In some instances governments make it illegal for data collected in the country to be processed abroad. This can be the case in Asia, and even within Western Europe. In these situations GIT operates through local strategic partners. This solution usually allows the partner-company to make use of our data-acquisition capability and in a second step process the data on the spot using our proprietary software.

Market Potential
We predict that dramatic improvements in PC capabilities will lead to a major shift from high-cost, high-resolution, airborne sensor systems towards much more affordable ones without compromising quality or resolution. The same will be true for data-processing costs. As GIS data moves towards commodity status, data-acquisition and processing costs will decrease, making it possible for emerging-market countries and small to mid-sized survey companies here to invest in GIS technology. India is planning one of the largest digital-mapping projects in the world. Other countries in South and Southeast Asia are following soon. Africa is a whole continent in waiting. In addition, better satellite technology will have an impact on obsolete legislation forbidding foreign companies to acquire digital geographic images. Once these developments catch on it is likely that the market for airborne solutions will also become more open.

Integrated Systems
Real-time data is just one of the technological developments that anyone in the industry needs to monitor closely. Another, nearer at hand development is a system consisting of two sensors deployed from a single-holed aircraft and able simultaneously to collect passive imagery and Lidar. Our R&D team remains focused on making the whole cycle of mission planning, data collection and data processing as smooth and fast as possible. This, in combination with high-resolution, low-cost systems, will guide our growth plans for the next five years. The company reckons it can establish itself in its niche over the next twelve to eighteen months, and we forecast a simultaneous increase in large-area clients wishing to take advantage of our streamlined data-collection and processing cycle.