Summary economic benefits of GPS for private-sector use, as of 2017
| Sector | Specific analytical focus | Benefits ($Million) |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | Precision agriculture technologies and practices | $5,830 |
| Electricity | Electrical system reliability and efficiency | $15,730 |
| Finance | High-frequency trading | Negligible |
| Location-based services | Smartphone apps and consumer devices that use location services to deliver services and experiences | $215,702 |
| Mining | Efficiency gains, cost reductions, and increased accuracy | $12,350 |
| Maritime | Navigation, port operations, fishing, and recreational boating | Negligible |
| Oil and gas | Positioning for offshore drilling and exploration | $45,922 |
| Surveying | Productivity gains, cost reductions, and increased accuracy in professional surveying | $48,124 |
| Telecommunications | Improved reliability and bandwidth utilization for wireless networks | $685,990 |
| Telematics | Efficiency gains, cost reductions, and environmental benefits through improved vehicle dispatch and navigation | $325,182 |
| Total | $1,354,830 |
| Sector | Specific analytical focus | Benefits ($Million) |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | Precision agriculture technologies and practices | $5,830 |
| Electricity | Electrical system reliability and efficiency | $15,730 |
| Finance | High-frequency trading | Negligible |
| Location-based services | Smartphone apps and consumer devices that use location services to deliver services and experiences | $215,702 |
| Mining | Efficiency gains, cost reductions, and increased accuracy | $12,350 |
| Maritime | Navigation, port operations, fishing, and recreational boating | Negligible |
| Oil and gas | Positioning for offshore drilling and exploration | $45,922 |
| Surveying | Productivity gains, cost reductions, and increased accuracy in professional surveying | $48,124 |
| Telecommunications | Improved reliability and bandwidth utilization for wireless networks | $685,990 |
| Telematics | Efficiency gains, cost reductions, and environmental benefits through improved vehicle dispatch and navigation | $325,182 |
| Total | $1,354,830 |
Economic benefits were measured relative to a counterfactual that specified that preexisting sources of positioning, navigation, and timing information continued to be available in the absence of GPS. Thus, the relative benefit for some sectors is negligible but substantial for those with applications that have a requirement for GPS’s accuracy and precision. We recommend interpreting the $1.4 trillion estimate as a rough order of magnitude. The range of benefits to date is estimated to be between $903 billion and $1.8 trillion
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