GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

“ GIS “

From finding the optimal location of a new sales office to emergency preparedness to analysis of market share, GIS technologies reflect the evolution of information systems over the past three decades. It is a tool that uses the power of computers to pose and answer geographic questions by arranging and displaying data about places on the planet in a variety of ways - maps, charts, and tables.

Technology is transforming the nature of our products, companies, and industries - even the very nature of competition itself. No circumstances have a greater effect on the way we live, work, and conceive our future than the proliferation of information. Companies that understand and anticipate the power of information technology have the ability to be in control of their destinies.

The challenge of implementing technology to effectively utilize information allows a company to set itself apart from its competitors, change the structure of its industry, become the lowest cost and / or highest quality producer, and effectively select the most profitable market.

Geographic Information Systems or (GIS) is intended to help you meet this challenge by arranging  your information in a visual format so that you can communicate back and forth between what you know and what you see. The difference between success and failure is the ability to communicate clearly and effectively.

 

GIS lets you analyze data in many ways and quickly create a map that communicate your ideas. You can add data to maps and find out the geographic factors that drive trends, combine data layers and find locations where particular characteristics coincide, or discover which types of areas best suit your business and identify such areas for expansion. What you discover can become the basis for new discoveries.

  The following are some examples of situations where GIS can help:

• Does it make sense to put a mega mall here?

• Should legislative district boundaries go here or there?

• Do we expand the existing airport here or build one there?

• Will be enough students for schools here in 10 years?

• Which pockets of endangered environment should we protect?

• What is the impact of waste facilities on local health patterns?

• Are we prepared to service the local population in the event of local disasters?

If an organization builds data sets that can be used by all departments in applications that streamline and increase the effectiveness of existing processes, it will realize significant returns on investment. Generally speaking, GIS can save time and money, increase efficiency, generate revenue, provide decision support, automate data, manage resources, aid in budgeting, create a reusable information base, increase accuracy and productivity, and improve project management.