MalaysiaGIS.com

Source: New Straits Times

Applications of geographical information systems (GIS) - or computerized mapping are due to reach the mass consumer, says Brad Spencer, from Digital Equipment Corporation's Spatial Information System division.

"For the last two decades the focus of GIS has been in capturing data and converting it into digital format," he said.

"But GIS, a previously insular and departmentalized technology is now opening up to the broad community. The sector is on the verge of a very big growth period right now."

Spencer said each dataset is owned by a particular federal or local authority. "If all the authorities can bring their datasets together, all the various data services for a parcel of land can be pooled. The local council could act as a center for that," he explained about the problem confronting spatial data distribution.

"I believe that the Internet is part of the answer to the distribution issue," he said, adding that the Internet's emergence was right on time to serve as a distribution platform catering to a massive base of consumers and businesses.

Many GIS-related companies are building spatial warehouses on the Web today. "There is this pent-up demand for spatial database applications, which couldn't be fulfilled because in the past the data was just not there yet," Spencer said.

"With the Internet, users who would not necessarily have access to GIS can now avail themselves of spatial information systems," he added. For instance, Web users could call up a map of a city they were about to visit and seek out convenient restaurants in that area.

"Internet-based tourist kiosks are an obvious application," Spencer said.

"Eighty per cent of all data in an organization relates to a geographic location - and can therefore be depicted in a GIS," he said, giving the example of customer addresses, a common database field, which has a geographic location.

GIS started in the 1960s and originated from computerized mapping. Companies had before then plotted on hardcopy maps and ended up managing large drafting departments, Government agencies, land bureaus, telecommunications firms, city councils began relying on computers to maintain their spatial information as technology progressed, Spencer explained.

The commercial sector followed suit later to exploit GIS applications to assist in their decision-making. "Basically, GIS lets the decision maker visualize. It's faster and easier than ploughing through hundreds of tabled text data," he said, adding that GIS could also be viewed as a form of graphical executive information system (EIS).

Today, various types of companies use GIS for varied purposes. Banking and insurance companies can analyse customers based on location to decide where to put ATM tellers.

Insurance companies use GIS to determine the insurance premium rates based on specific streets.

Healthcare institutions use it to decide where to locate hospitals. Retail outlets use it to do graphic based analysis.

Some companies use a dynamic GIS application to track where each of their company vehicles, which are fitted with a global positioning device - are located at any point in time.

As for Digital, Spencer said its Spatial Information Division has projected a US$50 million (about RM125 million) revenue from GIS-related hardware sales in the Asia-Pacific this year.

He claimed that the company shipped more CPUs (central processing unit) for the GIS market worldwide than any other rival company last year.