Location, location, location

EUI. Why should businesses and governments be interested in geospatial information systems (GIS)?
ME. One of the biggest assets any organisation has is its data. Access to this data is often cumbersome and restrictive, and in many cases the same data is stored separately in many varied IT systems or still in filing cabinets. Geospatial referencing enables organisations another form of access to this valuable asset and the possibility to share data across the enterprise and now even out to customers and the public. 

A GIS is essentially an information system and a business tool that allows users to integrate, display, analyse and share geospatial information. Most data can be geospatially referenced in one way or another by its location, such as national mapping coordinates, postal address, administration area, engineering measurements, etc. 

EUI. Where does GIS currently sit within an organisation?
ME. Historically, many departments have purchased and managed a GIS independently from the corporate IT forming stovepipe systems. Examples include local government planning systems, agency environmental systems, police crime mapping, utility asset mapping systems, retail logistics systems or engineering construction systems. 

There has been a steady rise in the convergence of GIS to mainstream IT, driven primarily by centralisation and associated cost savings, leading to Terabytes now being held in corporate databases. 

Other factors that are driving convergence are Legislation and Government Initiatives to make the exchange of data simpler. For example, the EU INSPIRE Directive lays down a general spatial data infrastructure framework in which data interoperability and data sharing are prime objectives. Another example in the UK are the street works under the new Traffic Management Act, where all road and street-work activities have to be spatially recorded and planned in association with local authorities. Under such a scheme, current paper-based processes will have to be replaced by electronic systems. 

EUI. How are organisations responding to the digital mapping world?
ME. Rolta has been helping organisations around the world capture, collate, convert and then maintain their geospatial data for over twenty years.  Integration has provided operational benefits – Utility call centres where location of faults can be linked to customers affected; Emergency services where fastest routes and closest vehicle can be calculated and despatched; Environment Agencies for directing flood defences and relief and; major construction projects where all build aspects have to be controlled and coordinated.

EUI. What other pressures are now affecting organisations?
ME. There is now a greater public awareness of visualisation of data.  The advent of Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth and a variety of in-car navigation systems has led to an expectation that data should be made available and associated with pictures and location. Customers are now demanding quick access to data that is current and accurate. In response, many organisations have implemented web-enabled applications for both internal and external access to enterprise information. The major geospatial information systems will continue to have a role in the corporate IT infrastructure, but it will be through web access that the interoperability issues of legacy systems are resolved.

EUI. What is the future for geospatial data?
ME. The thirst for geospatial data is growing. Satellite imagery, aerial photography, laser scanned models are just some examples that are streaming terabytes of information into massive databases. Mobile systems that have global positioning capability will become commonplace and updating corporate systems could be achieved by field engineers. The main issue in the future will not be whether or not we need geospatial data, but how up-to-date we need it, what is its quality/accuracy and who is going to securely maintain it?

About Mark Edwards
Mark Edwards is the Managing Director of Rolta’s European Operations and has over 25 years’ experience in the geospatial and IT industry, including project management, software development and sales. Rolta is India’s premier CAD/CAM/GIS solution and services provider with multi-million dollar projects undertaken worldwide, and is a principal member of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC).