Handling Dataset Inconsistencies and Enriching Workflows with Geospatial Info

Dan Wakely
by Dan Wakely 16 Jan, 2023

Combining diverse sets of data remains a big challenge because of the potential disparities in coverage, quality, compatibility, confidentiality, and update frequency - and that is just scratching the digital surface.

Would it be useful to consider geographic or spacial information when making business decisions? Of course, and a new integration will enable companies utilizing such location-based information to do so for that exact purpose.

Big data solution Talend recently announced the availability of a geospatial connector for its Talend Data Fabric solution, which aims to simplify the integration of geographical or spacial information into business decision analysis.

Built in conjunction with Disy, the new connector connects different spatial databases such as Oracle Locator/Spatial, PostGIS, SpatiaLite and Shape Files and WKT (well-known text), and automates tasks and workflows customized for geospatial operations. Geospatial analysis requires software capable of rendering maps, satellite images, and applying analytical methods to terrestrial or geographic datasets.

The new connector by Talend and Disy provides specialized components for geospatial operations such as calculating longitude and latitude coordinates, converting various location details into 2D or 3D point geometries, and determining centroids for location triangulation. This information can be used for a variety of purposes including, safe traffic flow, first-responder services, precision farming and/or geo-marketing, whereby promotional offers can be delivered based on a consumer's proximity to a particular brand.

"The practice of collecting and publishing digital data about people, places, and phenomena of all kinds has accelerated in recent years, particularly with the advancing proliferation of public data offered by various government agencies," said Ciaran Dynes, senior vice president of products, Talend.

"Thus, it's becoming increasingly important for organizations to have an automated way to integrate previously distinct data sources such as weather, transportation, and demographics to draw meaningful conclusions. Disy's new connector significantly eases this process so our joint customers can have greater data agility."

Talend Data Fabric offers native support for Hadoop and Spark, as well over 900 pre-configured connectors and components to popular applications and databases including Salesforce, MapR, NetSuite, AWS Redshift, Snowflake, SAP and more.