The GIS acronym stands for Geographic Information Systems and represents an emerging technology designed to help businesses make important decisions. Inconspicuously entering the business world, GIS has revolutionized the way certain industries operate and how they leverage geospatial data to provide new digital products and services. By delivering detailed information in an innovative way, GIS solutions have helped executives regroup and redirect their efforts in ways that enhance the performance of their companies. Now, if you’re still not sure what exactly is going on with GIS data in business and how this tech provides value, take a dive with us and explore specific ways you can use it in your line of work:

1. Enhancing telecom and network services

In most cases, businesses decide to use geospatial data in the form of a map. Laid out this way, the specific information can help plan out complex network designs. Businesses can easily see which areas don’t have enough coverage and where lies the potential for future development. In addition, these maps offer a clear view of the existing structures, thus helping plan future optimization and maintenance activities. Telecom and network service businesses rely heavily on good customer service and relationships, and this kind of data will enhance the telecom processes through better location services.

2. Helping with urban planning and expansion

When Canada pioneered GIS data use to figure out what parts of the land are perfect for farming and growing crops and which should be forested, little did they know what their project would grow into. Canada did research based on data concerning climate characteristics, soil and drainage. Today, governments all over the world use much more detailed data for their short- and long-term urban planning. The data collected and made available before was much different than the current one, as modern GIS data offers in-depth and real-time information. Thus collected, it gives a great insight into land use, demography, city infrastructure, and much more, allowing local authorities and governments to seek out new sites for further development. 

3. Improving transportation planning

Keeping track of all transportation issues takes a lot of time and effort, and it’s virtually impossible to do in-person and in real-time. This is where GIS data steps in: it allows you to visualize and better understand your transportation network’s current condition. Your organization will be aware of any safety improvements that should be implemented and better understand which parts of the network require maintenance and which ones can carry new projects. Entire sections of highways can be scanned to see which parts should be repaired, helping with time management. Also, GIS allows us to keep track of drainage, slopes, and soil quality, which is invaluable information when planning new and amending existing routes.

4. In-depth analysis of the environmental impact 

When governments or NGOs come up with a new plan, before implementing it they need to run comprehensive studies on the possible environmental impact that the plan would have. While this is done through EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment), the final presentation on the findings is almost impossible to complete without GIS. GIS enables creation of comprehensible presentations because these systems provide easy and practical visualization of environmental impact information. EIAs take a long time to complete, but when you place all the robust information on different map layers and use GIS to analyze it, it can be done in a fraction of time. 

5. Various agricultural applications

We already mentioned GIS data usefulness when determining soil parameters, but we didn’t even touch on the agricultural impact of this information. The agrarian sector prospered greatly with the addition of new technologies, and GIS data only adds to this. The data acquired this way is cost-effective and offers vital insight that will help increase food production worldwide. By providing accurate information on the state of soil and the natural climate of the country, GIS data helps bridge the gap between dry knowledge (theory) and practice. Not only that, but the impartial data allows different countries to explore different solutions for similar problems they are facing, relying on their strengths and working around their weaknesses.

While the beginnings were rather shy, today we use GIS data in ways we could previously only dream of. The profound impact GIS data has had on different businesses and industries, as well as on the general public, can’t be overlooked or overstated. Industrial applications of GIS are many, and over the years, businesses have started relying on it more when making big decisions or deciding on a new course of action. We have covered only five ways GIS can help businesses, and if you’d like to know more, feel free to get in touch with our team.