What is a Geolocation? Geolocation describes how we can trace the location of our devices through their internet connection. It’s a simple concept, and one we use every day, it is geolocation that means your smartphone knows where it is, and exactly which McDonalds is nearest to you right now. Knowing where devices are, as the smartphone example shows, can be really useful, not just for finding nearby food options either, it is also geolocation that can tell you where you left your laptop for instance. How Does Geolocation Work? Geolocation uses an approach called triangulation, using data from satellites that continually send signals to your phone for instance, by assessing which signals the phone can receive, it can calculate where you are in the world. The difference with geolocation is that it can assess not just the longitude and latitude of the position of your phone or other device, but also the speed, direction of travel and even altitude. Geolocation in Everyday Life If you’ve ever used ride sharing apps and watched the vehicle coming to pick you up on the map, or just tapped your weather app to get the latest info on where you are, then you’ve used geolocation. Whether its tracking your latest bike ride or run on Strava or finding a coffee shop in an unfamiliar town, geolocation has become a part of our daily lives. What is Geolocation Tracking? To really understand what it is, we need to look at a practical example of geolocation in action. Take fleet management, where a company needs to track vehicle progress in real time, for themselves, and often so you can follow your package as it is delivered to you. Knowing when your parcel is nearby is useful, but for the fleet manager, being able to reduce fuel consumption and ensure your driver arrives on time by optimizing routes means geolocation has a role to play in all kinds of businesses. The Future of Geolocation While geolocation has proven to be extremely useful today, our technology is always evolving. This is no different, and we can expect geolocation to become part of things like smart city initiatives, autonomous vehicles and more, even aiding public safety solutions. Conclusion Geolocation lets us track devices as they travel around the world through a digital system. While it has proven to be an essential tool for many things in daily life, this is only the beginning. For travel, driving and more, geolocation could be the essential tool for many things we take for granted today.