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Spatial Intelligence : a new school of thought.

Coming from a solid tradition of the social science of space, with innovative geography in the foreground, Spatial Intelligence approaches society’s issues in the light of a highly effective, subtle and all encompassing analysis of space.

The underlying question in Spatial Intelligence is “Where?” . Where are problems located? What links the locations?

What distances are to be considered ? How does an issue reflect networks and the physical environment? What space does a problem take up? What spatial assets are at stake? What strategies will add value, help them to grow, give them form?

WhereSciences® is QualCity’s Search Engine and is made up of four strands : 

• An international multi-disciplinary academic network covering Geography, Economics, Sociology, History, Information Technology, Information Science, Political Science etc. and grouping researchers within a knowledge space (research lab + think tank + review + blog) dedicated to Spatial Intelligence.
• Innovative technology — Spatial Intelligence System (SIS): concepts, expertise, techniques and data — combining Geographic Information Systems (GIS), satellite and aerial imaging, textmining and spatial analysis of statistics
• A network of consultants and business sector experts bringing exceptional skills on the worlds of : communications, politics, health, finance, logistics, HR, insurance, energy, security, food, transport, shipping, armament, agribusiness, tourism, industry and many more.

 

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The 5 core concepts of Spatial Intelligence.

Distance — Distance measures the spatial interval between components of a problem. It is an obstacle to interaction. The first objective of Spatial Intelligence is to map and manage distances in order to gain control over the space.

Place — The basic unit of the Spatial Intelligence thinking process. The places involved in a project must be precisely identified. They determine its scope, its strategic centres and what scales of analysis should be used. Places are the drivers behind what actions should be taken.

Space — How the distances are composed in a problem. The space is made up of places, links, networks, land, discontinuities, boundaries and many other spatial objects. The way they are mutually interlinked defines a set of possibilities on the one hand and a set of change levers on the other. Spatial Intelligence aims to describe the space occupied by a problem, yet not second guess which places will be identified as problem nodes.

Spatial Capital — The set of spatial resources pertaining to a stakeholder: its places, networks and land. Spatial capital gives a perspective on the spatial dimension of the stakeholder’s assets – financial, property, relational etc. Looking at how one type of spatial capital can merge with another means making better spatial choices – local development, international development or expatriation for example, for businesses, institutions or people.

Spatial Strategy — A development-led strategy by the stakeholder to optimise spatial capital. Strategic governance feeds into three dimensions of spatial capital : their development (enhancing spaces); their configuration (improving their design); their management (making them work better with dynamic relations between components). The strategic structure will be defined by the interaction between networks and governance of the physical environment.