GIS, Geographic Information System, is a tool, which stores large amount of spatial and non-spatial data. This data is captured, stored, processed, analyzed to provide the solution to geographical queries as and when required. It is a sort of magic wand for today’s world. It is a tool with which you can create interactive queries, analyze the spatial information, edit the data and present the results of all these operations.
Benefits:
- As GIS is presented in the form of visual language it helps in stimulating communication, collaboration and coordination.
- It offers improved map service.
- It is helpful in reducing sets of manual maps held and storage cost.
- It is a very efficient tool and hence results in increased staff capacity and savings.
- It is a key to faster and more extensive access to geographic information.
- It results in improved quality of service.
- It has better targeting capabilities and hence better coordination of services.
- It offers improved productivity in providing public information.
- It shows improved efficiency in updating of maps.
- It has the ability to track and monitor growth and development over time.
- It has efficient ability to perform and display different types of professional analyses, which is too time consuming and bulky if performed manually.
- It improves policy formation by being the reliable information provider.
- It increases power by increasing access to information about land use, parcel occupancy, assets, health, and economic development.
- It facilitates planning with community organization.
- It can be helpful in examining the condition of the earth’s surface, atmosphere and subsurface. And enables researchers to examine the variations in earth processes over period of time.
- It is used by certain organizations such as Illinois Agriculture Department to monitor animal diseases.
- It helps in tackling waterways crimes. In West Midland waterways Crime Mapping is used to reduce the crime rate.
- It has also very helpful in Defense infrastructure. It is used in domains such as terrain analysis, map production or facility management. And is also capable of transforming battle space knowledge which is helpful in quick decision-making.
- GIS technology has opened the gates in the field of Water Resource Management.
- This technology is gaining grounds in e-governance.
- With the help of GIS technology researchers can combine data in various ways to analyze patterns and trends, which would be helpful in the development of environmental hazards prediction tools.
- This technology serves public interest by providing fire and post fire spatial information.
GIS technology provides an important framework for managing both human and natural activities as it is very efficient in integrating and analyzing the complex data, making it easily accessible to scientists, planners or general public.
Emerging GIS applications are challenging the conventional approaches to planning and decision making and are giving rise to new services and tools using geo spatial information where the data are scientifically processed and accurately organized for their location and management. Taken as a whole GIS technology is improving our understanding of the natural processes of our planet earth.
In future the new face of Internet GIS will attract more people to use it and will transform the way people live, work and behave.
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