Current trends and challenges in location-based services

Location-based services (LBS) are a growing area of research. This editorial paper introduces the key research areas within the scientific field of LBS, which consist of positioning, modelling, communication, applications, evaluation, analysis of LBS data, and privacy and ethical issues. After that, 18 original papers are presented, which provide a general picture of recent research activities on LBS, especially related to the research areas of positioning, modelling, applications, and LBS data analysis. This Special Issue together with other recent events and publications concerning LBS show that the scientific field of LBS is rapidly evolving, and that LBS applications have become smarter and more ubiquitous in many aspects of our daily life