GeoTechVision, with offices in Kingston, Jamaica, and Georgetown, Guyana, serves clients in sectors across some 15 different Caribbean territories.

The company is pouring back cash as fast as it makes it into new product development as it goes through a phase of rapid expansion.

Over a five-year horizon, Managing Director Valerie Grant says, the team at GeoTechVision is focused on mining and geo-enabling big data to provide business intelligence. For the medium term, the company is also set on expansion geographically to include Canada and countries in South America.

GeoTechVision, now seven years old, provides clients with spatial technology and ICT solutions, working with government ministries and departments, public and private organisations in utilities, companies in insurance, real estate and transportation; non-governmental and donor agencies and individual consumers in delivering customised solutions.

The company is regional agent for vendors of mobile GIS, Geomatics and ICT products, involved with establishing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at an enterprise level.

It also supplies the necessary mobility products and services to build solutions which allow companies to effectively use spatial intelligence in critical decision-making, Grant explains.

Grant is the founder of GeoTechVision which began operations in 2009.

With a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of the West Indies, a Master of Science Degree in GIS and Environment from The Manchester Metropolitan University and supplementary training in GIS, disaster management and environment, she has leveraged these to create the company committed to geospatial technology solutions.

The certified GIS professional, runs GeoTechVision from headquarters at Cowper Drive in Kingston. The company employs 25 people including activity consultants across Kingston and at its Guyana office.

GeoTechVision’s GIS technical services cover field data collection, compilation and conversion, map creation, asset inventory, data analysis and modelling.

Other solutions are classroom management solutions and GIS mobile application solutions.

The company partnered with Freelance Mobile to create flexible mobile GIS applications allowing field workers to collect data, view maps and manage their dispersed assets and activities away from the office. This is a solution for the mobile workforce.

The company also teamed up with Radix to bring to the Caribbean a classroom management solution for the digital learning experience.

Grant adds, “We have been assisting Caribbean businesses, agencies and government ministries to develop and effectively use spatial intelligence in critical decision-making.

“We are very involved with establishing Geographic Information Systems, GPS and mobility products and solutions, as well as marketing our own ‘GeO’ brand tablet.”

She said the company is currently expanding its ICT-focused services and solutions as well as creating various useful apps.

Other consulting services include project management, information security advisory, process audit and assurance, business analysis and enterprise GIS solution planning and implementation.

The future is limitless for this entrepreneur.

“Recognising that web and mobile are pervasive and ubiquitous, GeoTechVision intends to create business dashboards customised for the Caribbean context that summarises information in near or real time manner — enabling business managers to make effective decisions,” she says.

Revenue for GeoTechVision exceeded $100m in both 2014 and 2015 and while inflows cover expenses, “because we are in growth mode all resources go back into the business to finance the growth”, Grant explains.

Main challenges being experienced in the running of the business include capital to grow the business, managing the pace of growth and “absence of clear regulatory framework for aspects of our business”, the managing director states.

These the team at GeoTechVision hopes to address “through strategic planning, stringent cash flow management, incremental investing no matter how small, attracting investors, managing growth expectations, contributing to discussions on policies for enhancing entrepreneurialism,” Grant outlines.

As she looks to the years ahead the entrepreneur says, “We are focused on developing services that are more wide-reaching for the business sector by mining and geo-enabling big data to provide business intelligence.

“Recognising that web and mobile are pervasive and ubiquitous, GeoTechVision intends to create business dashboards customised for the Caribbean context that summarises information in near or real time manner — enabling business managers to make effective decisions.”

The company also plans to continue exploring uses of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Caribbean, while diversifying products, services and solutions.

“The company will also be launching its GeoTechVision Academy in Jamaica to complement the academy existing in Guyana. This is an integrated work-problem-based curriculum designed to help our clients develop their ability while applying skills to a real life class project,” Reid added.

The GeoTechVision head says complete transformation into a high growth entity will require additional capital injection.

“A revision of our business strategy is also critical. We are currently undertaking this as we see it as a way to ensure we operate efficiently as we expand our markets and market share,” Grant states.