A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyse, manage, and present all types of geographical data. The medium this is done by is with modern computing techonologies, such as the web, mobile apps or desktop apps.

A GIS or Geographic Information System is all about merging of the disciplines cartography, statistical analysis, and database technology. In a broader sense, it is the modern equivalent of both geography and producing maps.

With correct implementation of a GIS, it will enable your organisation to gain the full benefit of the control distribution of valuable spatial data. This will enable your team, stakeholders, clients or even the public to make better decisions.

CAPTURE

GIS is closely associated with the field of ‘Remote Sensing’ in which data is captured from a distance. In this scenario it may be from drone, plane or satellite. These datasets often contain huge amounts of raw data that are difficult to manage and also interpret. A well-built and useful GIS provides tools and features which allow this data to be simplified into more meaningful and manageable chunks. One good example of this is your typical street-map,: roads are often captured by high-resolution aerial imagery or satellite, so updates to street-maps can now be almost real-time because GIS can take these images and turn them into road line features.

MANIPULATE

What good is your data if it is static. With such a fast paced world data storage and processing needs to be as flexible and progressive and the times we live in. Gone are the days of paper maps and plans, where one small detail change required a complete re-draft. Modern GIS provides the tools to keep maps and data stored as dynamic objects, capable of being updated and changed from either manual or automatic inputs.

PRESENT

All the data in the world is no good to anybody if its illegible. GIS provides ways of displaying data in a format unlike anything else out there. By displaying data based on its location it gives it reference, a way of being generalized or aggregated and makes it more manageable to interact with, by giving data a presence.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics provide many ways of interacting with their data-sets however one of the most useful is to aggregate the vast quantities of census information into post codes or LGA so that it is both anonymous but also manageable. It does this through something called thematic maps, a process of colouring or modifying the size of areas on a map to represent changes in the data for that location.

If your business is not getting the full use of your current GIS system then be sure to contact us, as we would be happy to provide support, training and offer recommendations on ways of improving the use of your GIS.

If you don’t yet use GIS we are happy to also sit down at look at the ways your business can improve its efficiency, productivity or customer base with implementation of a GIS.

EQUIPMENT & SOFTWARE

We primarily use ESRI GIS products however our staff are well versed in QGIS and Pitney Bowes MapInfo.

While proprietary software is great and we are happy to provide you with support and training on your previous software, we can also offer our own in-house produced GIS cloud-based software, that allows for greater integration into your existing business systems and reduced licensing costs when you only have part-time GIS users.

We tailor this software to your requirements meaning it is fit for purpose and not overly complicated for end-users who may not be incredibly technology savvy.