What Can GIS Do?

GIS Can Improve Organizational Integration

One of the main benefits of GIS is improved management of your organization and resources. A GIS can link data sets together by common locational data, such as addresses, which helps departments and agencies share their data. By creating a shared database, one department can benefit from the work of another - data can be collected once and used many times. A GIS Can Helps Make Better Decisions. The old adage "better information leads to better decisions" is true for GIS. A GIS is not just an automated decision making system but a tool to query, analyze, and map data in support of the decision making process. For example, GIS can be used to help reach a decision about the location of a new housing development that has minimal environmental impact, is located in a low-risk area, and is close to a population center. The information can be presented succinctly and clearly in the form of a map and accompanying report, allowing decision makers to focus on the real issues rather than trying to understand the data. Because GIS products can be produced quickly, multiple scenarios can be evaluated efficiently and effectively.

GIS Can Make Maps

Making maps with GIS is much more flexible than traditional manual or automated cartography approaches. A GIS creates maps from data pulled from databases.

There is a vast difference between seeing data in a table of rows and columns and seeing it presented in the form of a map. The difference is not simply aesthetic, it is conceptual it turns out that the way you see your data has a profound effect on the connections you make and the conclusions you draw from it. GIS gives you the layout and drawing tools that help present facts with clear, compelling documents. Map displays can be integrated with reports, three-dimensional views, photographic images, and other output, such as multimedia.

GIS Functions

One of the main functions served by local governments is that of developing and maintaining a city's infrastructure. Departments involved in this work include planning and zoning, community development, building permits and inspection, engineering, and public utilities to name just a few.

GIS has helped planning, building and safety, public works, and engineering professionals meet or exceed the demands placed on them. Useful community development functions that can be performed more effectively with GIS include:

• Environmental analysis such as flood hazard and environmental impact assessment.
• Preparation, mapping, and analysis of zoning districts, existing land use, development constraints, and facility locations.
• Demographic analysis for Community Development Block Grants, housing, capital improvement, and other projects.
• Support of economic development programs, such as managing inventories of available sites and buildings suited for industrial and commercial development, and mapping of characteristics of the community and labor force.
• Staff members can quickly access information on parcel maps, environmentally sensitive areas, zoning, and other planning information for the public.