Gearing up with GIS technology

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are increasingly having a larger impact in numerous sectors globally, including in Sri Lanka. Understanding this, GIS software leader Esri conducted a user conference and GIS workshop at the Centre for Banking Studies, attended by users of the technology to receive updates and to share information and ideas about their utilisation of GIS technology in Sri Lanka. Esri International Regional Manager for Asia and Pacific Dave Byers explained the wide use of this technology and how businesses can use it to further optimise their operations. Following are excerpts of the interview:

By Cassandra Mascarenhas

Q: In what sectors are GIS systems most frequently used?

A: The users of our technology range from natural resource management agencies, local government, utility companies and agencies, electrical utilities, telecom, water supply and water resource agencies, defence and national security agencies, national mapping agencies, survey companies, business entities who are interested in optimising the location of their stores and outlets, trade area analysis – where their customers are, real estate holdings. Transportation is also a big area of use for GIS, transportation planning as well as on the delivery and logistics side; companies like DHL and FedEx use our technology to optimise their network of distribution.

Q: What sort of impact can you see GIS systems having on both the public and private sectors in Sri Lanka?

A:  The biggest impact we see is that GIS has become a common language for agencies to understand and get a view of their operations to plan and analyse their activities, to get information in and out of their field of operation and to communicate the results of their activities both internally and to stakeholders. It’s becoming very common for local governments, for example, to optimise their operations in terms of planning and zoning, public works, the condition of roads, urban planning, building inspection, economic development – understanding the mix of businesses, attracting business to operate in their jurisdiction for instance.

Q: What about the use of GIS in the private sector?

A:  There are many uses of GIS in the private sector, taking for example, banking and insurance, GIS helps them understand where the customers are, the characteristics of these customers; whether they should be offered home loans or auto loans or any kind of financial instruments or products. They would use the user technology to understand the demographic makeup and how to target their services into those areas that need them in an appropriate way and how to reach them most effectively.

Another big use for GIS is in higher education, not just departments of geography but also departments of business, economics and history use the technology to visualise information and to analyse trends, to understand the context of developments using geo-spatial analysis and visualisation. I would say globally, of all of our users, higher education of about 10 per cent so that is a very big area of interest for us. The education sector also has a big role to play to prepare people for their professional lives where they will utilise or make decisions based on geo-spatial information.

In Sri Lanka, GIS impacts the higher education sector too – in fact the meeting held last week was hosted by the Centre of Banking Studies and the University of Sri Jayewardenepura was a big factor in the organisation of the meeting and was attended by the Minister of Higher Education as well as the Secretary to the Ministry and they both addressed the gathering.

Q: What is the purpose of your visit?

A:  I’m here to meet with our user community, gather information about what is needed specifically for Sri Lanka perhaps in GIS and how we can support the success of our users. We are very interested in providing our tools and technologies for across the spectrum of Government and private entities in Sri Lanka, helping further development initiatives in all sectors.

Sri Lanka to us is a very vibrant economy and we are proud to have a wide array of organisations using our tools for about 20 years. It is used across segments but the strongest areas of use today in Sri Lanka is in surveying and other similar agencies. We have ongoing programmes always being conducted in terms of user meetings and specific special interest groups drawn from certain areas.

Q: At the moment in Sri Lanka, how many companies use and provide GIS systems?

A:  At our meeting, we had over 300 users representing over 120 different agencies and companies.