Development in the Hardware and Software Industries Tapped by GIS Applications - Assignment Example

Geographical Information Essay Introduction This essay addresses five different questions that are written accordingly prior to each paragraph. I. What are the current needs and developments in the hardware and software industries, including social networking technologies, which have been tapped by GIS applications? The current hardware and software industries have been largely impacted by the advancements we have achieved in the Geographical Information technologies. The fast pace of innovations have demanded newer and faster products and applications (Industries n.d.). Hardware and software industries have catered to the needs of various areas defined in the marketplace. Softwares that are used to integrate geographical information with people and events, help in producing knowledge useful in the industry operations and basis of research outcomes. Examples are the GIS softwares and hardwares used for libraries, museums and schools that facilitate management, demographic/market analysis, asset mapping and inventories (Educational License Options n.d.). Specific applications include ArcGIS for Desktop, Explorer, Mapping, Server, Server Image Extension and many others. In the case of Botanical Gardens and Zoological Parks, software was developed specifically designed as a data model for mapping facilities and plant collections. It is called ArcGIS Public Garden Data Model. The hardware developments kept up with the industry standard or what was required for efficient data capture of GIS components. The digitizing tablets allowed the operator to record coordinates and scanners which convert analogue source documents into digital raster form (Jackson and Woodsword 2012). GIS has been integrated in social networking. Ushahidi, for example, is a software that is used to collect information from multiple channels such as text messages, email and Twitter (Dumbill 2010). It has been found useful in reporting disasters such as floods and aggregating reports from citizen journalists. The trend analysis provided by GIS in combination of social data resulted to quick and effective disaster management. It has used information from social networking as sensors of the pending disaster, enabling the authorities to respond accordingly. II. What is the future direction of GIS as related to the hardware and software industries? Discuss potential development of GIS application in this area. The future direction of GIS in software and hardware industries holds several avenues of wider coverage of geographical components in all aspects possible such as education, demography, natural resources, risk assessments, aerospace, defense, etc. This area of integration of GIS with other data is also known as spatial data infrastructure (Geographic information system 2012). These infrastructures will certainly advance our knowledge and the technologies that we use toward sustainable living and development. As we study the distribution of different factors that affect our society, new information can be inferred through modelling and predictive techniques. These are now very popular in areas such as seismology, weather patterns and determining the threat status of important animal, plant and natural resources. The information advancement we have gained through GIS will enable more developments and enhancements of databases relating to the environment, economy, population, health and security. New softwares that will facilitate practical strategies of data integration in complex data structures, will be developed as the need arise. It may incorporate mapping, analysis, data collection, editing, and management of spatial information (About ArcGIS n.d.). Also, hardwares that can be consistent with such objectives will be standardized. This may include the development of scanning machines that can quickly convert images into rasterized spatial units so that it could be easily integrated with other data formats and therefore become readily available for analysis. It may also include technological development that enables better security, data integrity and compatibility with other spatial data infrastructures and applications. Platforms that allow pairing of social media and GIS will be focused on, as this social media maps present real time data that are useful for disaster response anywhere in the world. Real time information is accumulated from people who are actually present in the area of concern. Through data captures that can be done with GI, emergency operation procedures can be quickly initiated in any required service or assistance. III. What are the current needs and developments in legal or governmental projects that have been tapped by GIS applications? Government agencies have applied GIS technology in the implementation of various projects, not only in the federal level but also in local and state use (Where is GIS used 2004). They have conducted tracking and monitoring of properties, public works, roads, security measures and traffic flow through the use of GIS. Examples of these agencies are National Park Service which used GIS for their park management and public education, the Army Corps of Engineers that provides wave information studies useful for observing of coastal waters in storm events and, North Carolina Department of Transportation who integrated GIS in their existing and planned information systems on transportation. Landscape modelling has been adopted in one of these projects. It provided critical information on historical, present and future ecosystems through visualization with focus on the ecosystem status characterised. This played a vital role on management decisions. Same technology has been adopted by the NOAA Fisheries Service when dealing with stocks management of various fisheries resources. Application of GIS with fish catch data allowed them to simulate possibilities should fishing activities increase or decrease (NOAA 2012). In summary, GIS enabled these agencies to conduct better decision making strategies as potential consequences are addressed. Other areas include real estate site selection, route/corridor selection, evacuation planning, conservation and natural resource extraction (Better Decision Making n.d.). Legal projects have also been tapped by GIS. Client data were linked with census data which provided detailed resolution to analyze demographic characteristics of the identified territories of client concentration (Meeker 2003). This promoted better assistance on legal advocacies to clients through improved data analysis and research. Included here are public outreach and education, press releases, interviews, electronic media services such as radio pieces, press and legislative briefings (Convis1999). IV. What is the future direction of GIS as related to legal or governmental projects? Discuss potential development of GIS application in this area. The future direction of GIS relating to governmental and legal projects poses more opportunities on creation and developments of modelling, simulation and projection tools that enable accurate tracking, monitoring, data analysis and research of critical areas. These systems enable authorities to improve the implementation of their functions by being more effective in their management strategies and giving them the capacity to be prepared in all possibilities that each project may result into. Since several GIS linked projects have already been launched in the past years to achieve management in both national and local levels, enhancement of collected data is a good aspect to look up. Such as in the Wave Information Studies initiated by Army Corps of Engineers, errors can still be expected from miss-approximated storms in the wind field representation or limitations in the model technology (Wave Information Studies n.d.). Thus all actions that may contribute to reduce erroneous data will be wise to implement. It will be the same case with legal projects that are now integrated with GIS. Improved data collection techniques and, also data validation and management especially in sensitive databases will promote a more sound analysis that can contribute to better legal decisions and programs. Thus legal decisions can actually cover smaller areas that are usually overlooked because GIS application is able to include for analysis all variables fed into the system. The ability of GIS mapping to take account of multiple disciplines will definitely expand on other subjects that are yet to be defined but are affecting our political, environmental, social, health and technological systems. Conclusion V. Overall, how is GI technology shaping the market industries? What are its impacts in the industry? Discuss the advancements we have achieved and yet to achieve. Geographical Information technologies have advanced our market industries by enabling different industries to conduct a more accurate and complex analyses relating to location and respective critical aspects. Decision support systems are improved, result preparedness is better addressed through identification of possible outcomes and mapping resources have become more precise and reliable. Developments on hardware, software and analysis techniques have been achieved. This resulted to higher definitions of spatial units in wider locations in the globe through imagery techniques such as remote sensing. Also, GIS applications in different disciplines have allowed interoperability and therefore improved network capabilities and increased service capacities of various industries. Because of the resulting GIS demand in the market, the internet distribution has also grown (Thurston 2002). Wireless services have expanded and currently very useful in transportation related applications. Educational programmes on GIS have been on high demands. Data sharing has been very useful and popular in the marketplace. Importantly this created discussions and issues on data ownership, metadata, policy and organizational structures. More data sources have been identified to be useful in conducting research and analysis relating to politics, environment, society, natural resources, impacts of anthropogenic activities, etc. All these pose opportunities for data management that can be used as reliable sources for more GIS mapping tools. The high demand and effective service that GIS has brought into the marketplace indeed equates to its costly price. However, it can benefit more countries and more government sectors when its cost is made more affordable to its recipients. GIS applications that are simpler in operation without jeopardizing the accuracy and quality are also good targets in the future. Collection of more reliable data that deal with management of natural resources, political boundaries security and similar areas that are linked with GIS capabilities are also yet to be achieved. References About ArcGIS n.d., ArcGIS Resource Center, viewed on 18 May 2012, . Better Decision Making n.d., gis.com Geographic Information Systems, viewed on 18 May 2012, . Convis C 1999, EarthJustice Legal Defense Fund uses GIS for Western Conservation (CTSP 1997 Grantee), CTSP: The Conservation Technology Support Program, . Dumbill E 2010, Strata Gems: Usahidi enables crowdsourced journalism and intelligence, O’Reilly Radar, [blog] 10 Dec 2010, O’Reilly Media Inc., viewed on 18 May 2012, < http://radar.oreilly.com/2010/12/usahidi.html>. Educational License Options n.d., Esri, viewed on 18 May 2012, . Geographic information system 2012, Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation Inc., viewed on 18 May 2012, . GIS NCDOT n.d., NCDOT North Carolina Department of Transportation, viewed on 18 May 2012, . Industries: Computer Hardware/Software n.d., Loftware Enterprise Labeling Solutions, Loftware, Inc., viewed on 18 May 2012, . Jackson MJ and Woodsword PA 2012, GIS Data Capture: Hardware and Software, viewed on 18 May 2012, . Meeker JW 2003, Utilizing GIS to Study Legal Needs Issues: An Analysis of the LSC OIG Southern California Mapping Project, viewed on 18 May 2012, . National Park Service n.d., Geography and Mapping Technologies Geographic Information Systems, viewed on 18 May 2012, . NOAA Fisheries Home n.d., NOAA, viewed on 18 May 2012, . Thurston J 2002, Is GIS Working? : Spinning Wheels vs. Moving Ahead, viewed on 18 May 2012, . Wave Information Studies n.d., viewed on 18 May 2012, . Where is GIS used 2004, GIS in Education, NC State University, viewed on 18 May 2012, . Read More