Beyond Boundary Lines: Emerging Innovative Trends in Geospatial Data for Decision-Making

As technology and the use of data innovates and iterates by the second, so does the use and implementation of geospatial data into decision-making processes across the globe. The use of geospatial data is intertwined in every part of life with technology, from accessing bank transactions to adaptive navigational systems. This literature review identifies new and evolving trends in the use of geospatial data by analyzing 83 publications between January 2023 and December 2024. Top trends included the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence, natural language model usage, and object detection studies; with all trends focusing on analysis of large data sets. Use cases are initially reviewed for the private commercial sector, such as technological integration and open-data initiatives, before discussing emerging areas, such as the pervasive utilization of deep learning algorithms and neural networks. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were kept in mind for this study, especially when attempting to identify emerging areas that may aid in the assessment and solution paths of each goal.