GIS history can be tracked since mid 19th Century, when Dr John Snow solved the cholera outbreak source by utilizing multiple theme maps to a contaminated wells.
Since than, several factors the caused the change cartographic history.
1. computer technology - improvements in hardware, esp. graphics
2. development of theories of spatial processes in economic and social geography, anthropology, regional science.
3. increasing social awareness, education levels and mobility, awareness of environmental problems.
http://www.geog.ubc.ca/courses/klink/gis.notes/ncgia/u23.html#SEC23.1
This blog will address issues such as
1. The CSF of implementing Web GIS
2. GIS as Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) - GIS on Demand business model
3. Location intelligence business - local support to win local
4. User Interface Design (UID) and Data representation in web GIS - why Google win
Before we come to issues that concerning GODCHA, let revisit on how GIS come about and general existing implementing issues.
Following is overview of GIS elements:
http://www.edc.uri.edu/nrs/classes/NRS409/Lectures/3GISdefined/5%20Points%20of%20GIS.jpg
GIS Software has evolved from humble simple computer display that enable inputting point, line and polygon to database to today much complex, business intelligence capability. Now GIS software are available in commercial and open source packages. Following link give list of current available GIS software http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GIS_software.
Handling Complexity
GIS has always been a technical analysis tools in the hand of technician. Most organizations that deployed GIS have special unit or dedicated staff that handling GIS technicality. eg. town council will have planning unit personnel, GIS personnel in utility companies or Government setup, etc. A visit to Johor Bahru Tengah Local Council (MPJBT) eg. found that a standalone MapInfo is managed by a technician who is part of engineering team and even the IT dept. has little knowledge about it existance. Often time, GIS data is highly sensitive and confidential to organization, thus GIS unit is perceived as secret unit and is rarely connected to the rest of the organization network. Making GIS an isolated and standalone unit. Key management rely on GIS to make better decision but most of the time only for ad hoc analysis reporting, such as in crisis or disaster. Decision makers do not have direct access to the system and are not technical enough to handle the GIS complexity. Fallacy of having GIS as just a glorifying unit in organization will not help organization, GIS has to be shared and integrate to organization mainstream application. Making GIS accessible while addressing data sensitivity will help.
Nevertheless GIS has greatly improved decision making process of many organization worldwide. eg, GIS is being linked to the executive information system (EIS), realizing the strategic value of location data to organization.
In most organization, GIS unit is treated as secondary functional supporting element and push back to lower priority level in budget or investment. In worse situation GIS unit is neglected and some big organization making double investment in GIS because they did not realized that other units already invested in the same system. The true potential of GIS is not fully realized because it was not reaching everybody and making impact to the organization.
GODCHA is addressing the issue of "does GIS suppose to be that complex and technical".
Not until Internet advancement of 21st century, GIS comes into center stage in form of online virtual earth representation such as Google earth, virtual earth, NASA WorldWind and they touch everybody. Net and media companies like Google, Microsoft, yahoo provide API and SDK for public to develop services that can be linked with their mapping platform. In less than 2 years, more than 50k geo mashup web services are available on the net like http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/, and the list continue growing . Location awareness is coming into the mainstream. Prominent enterprise GIS software companies like ESRI and MapInfo are also quickly jump into the web by offering GIS as web services. MapInfo with location intelligence and ESRI with ArcWeb Service.
Companies like ESRI, MapInfo, Manifold etc overtime spend billion on developing great GIS functionalities. Selling GIS software and services to thousand of enterprises worldwide. Google earth offers in a way everybody can GIS. Now geo information sharing has becoming part of web life style. Geo or location information effect everybody and with Internet, gathering and collaborating geo information has becoming much more easier than before, in the footstep of Wikimapia.
GIS just a platform, Data is still the King.
Having a three lanes toll highway without traffic is the like of investing in sosphicated GIS infra with not enough data to crunch (analogy that we use in multi million eGovernment infra without enough application to drive). Most of GIS companies like ESRI and MapInfo are providing superior GIS software and expertise and overtime drive enough application. MapInfo Location Intelligence Seminar in Marina Mandarin Raffles Hotel, Singapore 12 June 2007, showcase interesting the important of location information to businesses and Government. There are a bundle of applications that are deployed on MapInfo platform for enterprise, from analysing customer information, geo marketing to health sensitive information. Most of the applications are driven by based data availability. Politically, geo information is very much liberalized in United States than in Asian countries. In Malaysia case eg. geo data, such as cadastral map, demographic data etc are overtime gathered by different organizations within Government, land surveying firms and utility companies but are restricted to public due to legal constrain etc. Nevertheless most of demograhic information eg. town or economic zoning area etc. are public domain and need effort to present in GIS format. Thus location intelligence needs local representation to massage local data. Collecting data can be prohibitively expensive and most of the time legally constrained to many organization. Often time similar concerned data are repetitively invested by many organizations and to some worse senario by different unit in the same organization. Most of this organization are end user and should never be burden with owning data.
How to make data available is part of GIS services and often time are not part of the package. This is where companies like Geo Sense, R7 and MapChart come with much realistic business solutions such as gis on demand, geo marketing, georoom etc.
Geo Sense is a hotmail to GIS, Geo Sense is inspired by R7 and MapChart.
2 comments:
Informative post. Thanks for sharing.
regards
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