Tags: Software Solutions, Technology Industry
By Anna Valmero
MANDALUYONG CITY, METRO MANILA— The increased implementation of geographic information systems (GIS) in the Philippines would “greatly benefit” the country, an expert said.
“GIS is increasingly being used by government agencies for agriculture, natural resources, public works, utility, and disaster mitigation,” said Jack Dangermond founder and president of Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI).
Due to this, the Philippines is a growing market for GIS applications, the executive said.
GIS offers capabilities aids public and private institutions to effectively evaluate their programs and resolve problems.
“Use of real-time information is one of the more recent developments that has transformed how many agencies prepare for and respond to disasters,” Dangermond said during an Esri conference recently held in Manila.
Given the country’s archipelagic formation, topography and exposure to natural disasters especially the eastern part for typhoons, Dangermond said GIS is essential for all phases of emergency management.
GIS provides an integration platform including data management, planning and analysis, field enablement, and situational awareness.
“GIS has always been about more than just mapping—it’s about analysis, about leveraging geographic knowledge for more intelligent decision making,” he said.
Among other applications of GIS technologies are increased government transparency, efficiency in agencies, management of natural resources, land records and orderly title transfer, planning of business activities, mitigation of climate change, and public safety and defense, he said.
GIS also has real-time value from sources such as social media in terms of disaster mitigation and response, Dangermond added.
“Adding structure and context allows social media to become another useful and valuable GIS layer of information,” he noted.
To enable this, Esri also developed an application programming interface (API) that enables people in public safety to quickly build and deploy dynamic, rich Internet applications.
This allows for easier use of maps, locators, social media and geo-processing models. Esri products are distributed in the country by Geodata Systems Technologies.
But more than its business uses, the biggest potential area for market growth of GIS is the consumer market, said Dangermond.
The mobile platform is the best avenue for this as mobile devices will continue to support more geospatial functionality, and thus connect to GIS systems around the world to use and create geographic knowledge.
Users are the biggest driver for this evolution in GIS technology, said Dangermond.
Democratization of data—both its widespread use and its universal creation—is resulting in a new kind of infrastructure: a geospatial infrastructure.
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Local Government in Negros Occidental does not have much support on GIS. Infrastructure projects are their priority, not mentioning the QUALITY & COSTS of it. But of course, everybody like Information on MAPS.
GIS applications have been in existence for many years now. But they are limited to the accuracy of the maps we have. Thankfully, NAMRIA will be updating the digital maps of the Philippines. =)