Do you remember a few years ago when you first used mapquest or Google maps to get directions? And do you remember also getting completely lost using those directions? The technology that combines maps and the Internet has come a long way in a short time. In case you didn't know, this technology is known as GIS or geographic information system. According to wikipedia, GIS is any system that captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data that are linked to location. It is one of the highest demand tech skills these days and much bigger than getting you directions. We were curious about this interesting technology so we decided to pull some GIS experts to the side and ask some questions...

 

Sarah Longhurst

Sarah Longhurst is currently digital product coordinator at woZZon.  Her background  is in GIS and system integration projects within many market sectors, analyzing, designing and delivering solutions to business and local government to make cash savings and improve efficiency. She is skilled in the use of many GIS software including ESRI ArcGIS, Cadcorp, SmallWorld, DataMap and MapRite. You can follow her on twitter here .

 

Timothy Hales

Timothy Hales is co-founder of The GIS Forum. He just completed a term as chairman of the Charlotte Metropolitan GIS User Group.  In his spare time he contributes technical articles and thoughts to GIS Pathway and GIS Pathway Blog. His specialties include analysis, ArcGIS, ArcObjects, cartography, and database development .You can follow his blog here.

 

Christine Newton Bush

Christine Newton Bush is currently GIS technician at Ohlone College. She is now focused on geospatial applications, geospatial data processing and digital mapping. She has completed the GIS Analyst Certificate program at Foothill College. Her many specialties include ArcGIS, ArcServer, Flash applications using AS 3.0, GeoServer, and Google SketchUp. You can view her linkedin profile here.

 

Damon Weiss

Damon Weiss is project engineer at Pennoni Associates. He has over eleven years of civil engineering experience. His specialties include data mining, databases, computer programming, and decision support. He has a real passion for computer science, artificial intelligence, sensor, robotics and other innovative technologies. Find his blog here .

 

Charles Schoeneberger

Charles Schoeneberger is blogger at Whatever-Weather.  You can find him at whatever-weather, which is a great site about meteorology and weather. Recently, he posted a blog entry on GIS and meteorology, find it here . His specialties include weather forecasting with emphasis in transportation products.

 

 

Harsh
Harsh works as a Senior GIS Consultant in the Washington DC Metro, and serves as the Vice-Chair of the Technology Division of the American Planning Association (APA). Follow his blog here and you can follow him on twitter here.


1. For our readers that don't know, could you define geographic information systems?

Sarah: In a nutshell it's the merging of cartographical and database technologies, but GIS goes beyond the stereotypical Ordnance Survey map, as a lot of people perceive GIS to be. GIS involves aerial photography and 3D modeling, it's not just macro level applications of GIS, it's also micro level, the awareness of how an individual interacts with their immediate surroundings and space, for example navigating a building like a shopping centre or airport and transport networks such as the tube.

Timothy: Geographic information systems is the technological system that manages data that is based on objects or events on the Earth's surface. Within this system, these objects and events can be stored, measured, analyzed, and visualized. This technology is also known as Geospatial Technology.

Christine: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are desktop or web-based applications that combine maps with databases. By relating attribute data to geometry, you can ask questions which entail a spatial answer or perform data mining on geospatial data.

Damon: You don't have to be an engineer to understand the basics of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Even the least technical person knows where the nearest bus stop is to their place of work. They understand that there may be utility pipes buried directly under the roadway and that these pipes are physically connected to houses and buildings. They know that housing prices depend strongly on the neighborhood and are influenced by proximity to good schools, access to parks and recreation, average regional growth, and social aspects such as crime rates in the area. GIS is essentially a computerized tool to help people better discover, analyze, understand, and visualize these complex spatial relationships.

More importantly, however, GIS can be used to help answer more difficult questions using data that does not appear to be related, other than by proximity or spatial connection. For example, people intuitively know that they can get sick from living too close to an environmental hazard. GIS, however, takes this concept a step further. It can be used to identify specific regions in the U.S. with abnormally high cases of asthma among young children, and then evaluate if the schools in the area are located near any particular sources of air pollution, such as industrial plants or heavily-traveled highways. GIS then allows these complex spatial relationships to be visualized in an easy-to-comprehend map format, so that it can be better understood and shared with others.

Charles: I would define Geographic Information Systems as a virtual representation to reality. Each Point, Line/Polyline, Polygon, Grid Point, etc... all relate to the back end database to relate to reality. This representation is of course only as good as the data that goes into it.

Harsh: In short, GIS is a system of software, hardware, data and people focusing primarily on the spatial dimension. Some GIS applications in say, the microbiology sector, are so far removed from geography, that calling them SIS (Spatial Information System) seems more apt.
 
2 .Could you explain how GIS is important in today's business world?

Sarah: You'll find that very few businesses don't have some form of time and location based data, it's incredibly important to retrieve information with one click. Hard copies of documents and plans are inefficient to store and retrieve when a request is made, not to mention more expensive. From private to public sectors, GIS is becoming a fundamental tool to running an efficient service. Now clients and the public expect to access information online in real time not just by request via phone, email or snail mail.

A council can now store vast amounts of planning information within a GIS system and easily enter new plans and printout only if they need to. Shipping companies can keep track of their fleet be it by road, sea or air. Clever businesses like Nike have got the public involved by producing products that allow the user to map their own movements via GPS with a tag that sits inside the trainer and syncs with their iPhone or iPod while running.


Timothy: Every industry relies upon GIS. GIS is a behind the scenes technology that most people do not realize exists. Some forefront industries that use GIS include: Utilities, Transportation, Meteorology, Retail Businesses, Education, Environmental Management, and Real Estate. Everything that has a location on the Earth can be placed into GIS. In order to efficiently manage this information, a particular industry depends on GIS technology. The workings of a power grid, monitoring of a storm, transportation of food, and placement of a ATM could not be done without GIS.

Christine: GIS enables businesses to make better decisions at all levels, but it often most benefits operations personnel. Examples of GIS applications used by business include network analysis to develop more efficient delivery routes or automated mailing lists generated from geocoded data. Management can see where customers are located with greater precision using GIS. And they can help customers to find them by providing online maps connected to a backend GIS database.

Damon: In just about every sector of business that I can think of, GIS can be leveraged to make businesses more efficient, more intelligent, more profitable and more sustainable. After all, everything we do has some spatial component to it - delivery of goods and services follow specific routes or supply chains; sales territories are based on regional demographics; natural resources are located in hard-to-reach places throughout the earth; and the critical infrastructure needed to sustain our society are located, designed and maintained to serve the areas where people physically reside.

Among other things, GIS technology is used for facilities and asset management, resource management, integrated infrastructure management, archeology, environmental impact assessment, urban planning, cartography, criminology, geographic history, marketing, and logistics.

Charles: GIS can be applied to businesses in many different ways depending with very diverse applications depending on the mission and size of the business. Some company missions or project plans may have a need for more data capture and/or analysis with new or previous databases, others may have a need to make their data more accessible to clients and/or the general public. That is the beauty of GIS, the scalability. The power of data and analysis are both in low end Access Geodatabases and Shapefiles on the low end to large enterprise geodatabases running in Oracle or related enterprise databases.

Let me use a Meteorology example. The weather models that represent the atmosphere are gridded and compute thermodynamic equations to come out with solutions for future weather conditions. These solutions with current conditions and the analysis from a operational forecaster's experience and knowledge give the public and/or clients forecasts for the future. What you end up is a forecast for a specific location. With GIS you can choose to integrate other data sources with real world and near real-time representations to add targeted added value to a client or the general public. It can cover public safety, transportation, energy production, and many other industries.

Harsh: Helping businesses make better use of the geography of their customers and markets ("Where are the emerging markets? What grows in their neighborhoods? Where are the prime customers?" etc). Tidbit: The Obama campaign made good use of GIS to target independent/undecided voters. Also, look at Location Based Services (LBS)- an industry jargon often thrown around in the past, that is catching on these days.

3. How did you get started in geographic information systems? How would you recommend others get involved in GIS?

Sarah: I did a BSc Geography degree at The University of Manchester, they had a module on GIS and I thought that it would be important to not only do the "traditional" aspects of Geography but to also embrace the modern. We applied GIS to population movement, the depletion of peat bogs in the Peak District as well as mapping pollution and other human and environmental impacts. It was a well rounded course that opened a lot of doors when I graduated.

When I was at Uni there were very few courses specific to GIS, but now there are dedicated degree and masters programmes that teach you both the theory and application of GIS as well as courses for the developer, for people who actually want to programme and code for GIS systems. To get involved with GIS it is easier to have a qualification that has an element if GIS integrated, but most people will find that GIS systems will be part of a company's IT structure anyway. Look into how GIS is used in different sectors and how it can be used in the future, just think of how many times a week you reference a map!

Timothy: I did not learn about GIS until after I has graduated and started a job as a planning project manager. I knew nothing about GIS, but I got into the software and aggressively taught myself through trial and error. Once the technology grabbed my interest, I wanted to learn as much as I could. I took classes at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, NC while working full-time. In about two years I had earned a AAS Degree in Geospatial Technology. I made my education an active learning experience. During this time, I created a website to share with other what I was leaning. I sought every opportunity to network with others in this industry whom I could learn from. In less than four years, I feel as though I have made a lot of progress. I feel very confident in this technology. Some of my success includes chairing my local GIS user group and winning the 2009 SkillsUSA Geospatial Technology National Competition.

If you want to get involved in GIS, you should search the internet for what is out there. Also take some time to visit local user groups and GIS day events. Beyond that, it all depends on the individual. You can either learn a little or learn a lot. If all you want to do is dabble in GIS, I would recommend getting a certificate in GIS from a community college. However if you desire to go further, I would tell you to put your heart into it. A passion for this technology will drive you to learn more and more each day.

Christine: I have a background in web design and live in Silicon Valley where those skills are quite saturated throughout the market. I finished a GIS Analyst Certificate program at Foothill College and have been combining my skills as a web developer with my interest in maps to create a new business niche. I recommend anyone interested in GIS take a course or two to get a feel for how the geographic concepts and the technology come together.

Damon: Most of my GIS knowledge and experience was obtained through intensive self-instruction and on-the-job training; although I also used GIS extensively throughout my graduate school studies at Carnegie Mellon University. To anyone who decides to go this self-taught route, instead of obtaining formal GIS training, I strongly recommend that you tap into your passion for life-long learning. You will need it to sustain you through the learning curve.  As a civil engineer, I think it's just natural that I love maps - topographical maps, geological maps, zoning maps, transportation network maps. For me, however, GIS was more than just about making maps - it was about layering these maps in new and interesting ways, relating them to useful external data, and performing computational analyzes that changed the way people perceived their environment.

Many people who get involved in GIS only take their learning experience to the "map-making" level - learning about projections, layer symbology, and layout. These people learn to make stunning maps- a useful skill, in itself. However, GIS is so much more than that. With just a little added knowledge about databases, CAD and 3D modeling, and computer programming, those interested in getting more deeply involved in GIS will be able to unlock the full potential of this powerful tool. These skills can be picked up at any local bookstore, online or at the nearby community college. That was my strategy, and it's paid off nicely.

Charles: I first became aware of GIS back in 1999 at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, after a undergraduate meteorology class. The Atmospheric Sciences and Geography Departments are both part of the same John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. The Geographic Department had just finished up a session in the lobby of one of the aerospace buildings and they had demos of ArcView 3.1 and other GIS literature laying around I picked up and read. The Atmospheric Science department also runs the Regional Weather Information Center, and part of this academic division has a GIS/Meteorology research focus. I listened to the talk and how they were using it for highway transportation Meteorology applications.

It was during my time working at Meridian Environmental Technologies Inc, in Grand Forks, North Dakota I was thinking about what is future of disseminating information to the public and I thought about GIS. I researched different programs and I came across the Resource Analysis/GIS Program at St. Mary's University of Minnesota in Winona, MN. They allowed me to explore using the technology of the time, ArcView 3.x, ArcGIS 8.x, and Arc/Info 7.x, so I learned GIS by using command line applications which make you get extremely up close and personal to the data to get and insight with the data.

I would recommend that others first by first taking their passion in their chosen background and think about how they could apply GIS to it. Then read up on the basics on ESRI's website among others.

Harsh: GIS was the ideal fit. If someone is interested in web development and spatially-oriented, they should look at the GIS industry.  

Click here for Part 2 of the interview. 

Invite Your Comments