I’m starting January with a bold prediction: 2022 will be a make or break year for relationships.

Specifically our relationships with the people, institutions and jurisdictions with whom we share space and resources.

Earth observation data is driving this trend and I expect by the end of this year it will have disrupted how corporations and governments relate to each other (both friends and foes), and how each relates to the people who live and interact with physical infrastructure and resources, including the land itself.

Why? Because by the end of this year I suspect the old expression ‘out of sight, out of mind’ won’t apply to many places left on earth.

This is the year remote spaces on earth come into view, courtesy of the immense power and coverage of commercially-available earth observation data.

I spend a lot of my time thinking about trends in earth observation data. How we gather it, how we visualize it, and how we use it to achieve business and societal goals.

The change in our relationships won’t be simply because there’s more data; it’s that the data is more widely available.

It goes something like this: a decade ago these crystal clear satellite images were only available to the executive branches and security apparatus of national governments. 

Three years ago when Norm and I first came together, these images were available to a select few multinationals that could afford the exorbitant prices. 

In 2021 we saw an acceleration in the trend towards lower cost earth observation data. Now, we see a price point that broadens access and in doing so levels out the field of play.

For instance, environmental non-profits are using satellite images to monitor remote areas of the Amazon River basin for illegal mining and forestry activities.

Public health organizations are using earth observation data to monitor the spread of insect-borne infectious diseases across large areas.

Private enterprises are using it to monitor infrastructure and assets in remote and hard-to-access terrain, both their own and their competitors.

Greater access, means greater visibility – and that’s what will drive the shift in our relationships.

Earth observation data brings greater transparency to our relationships because people, whether they are customers, stakeholders, regulators or competitors, will be able to see and judge for themselves the status, sustainability and strength of your assets and infrastructure.

This level of scrutiny and visibility requires a shift in how organizations monitor and maintain infrastructure.

Gone are the days of installing a remote camera or sending up a drone every month or so to ‘walk’ the field.

Dynamic infrastructure monitoring and analysis is required in this new era of commercially-available earth observation data.

In my old line of work we called it defense dominance, that ability to have greater access to timely information for quick thinking and problem-solving.

That means having access to accurate and timely visualizations and supporting data so operators and decision-makers can find and fix problems fast.

That’s good stewardship and in 2022 it’ll be the key to strong, healthy and sustainable relationships for people, planet and the corporations that care about both.