Exploring the unexplored applications of GIS

1. GIS for All: Exploring the Barriers and Opportunities
for Underexploited GIS Applications
1Hao
1Dr
Ye
Michael Brown, 2Dr Jenny Harding
1University
of Nottingham
2Ordnance Survey

2. Background
GIS have been adopted in a variety of subjects, however, direct
or indirect barriers still affecting the adoption rate of GIS
GIS
Data sourcee from Bhaskaracharya Institute For Space Applications and Geo-Informatics

3. It is interesting to know
 Who are the current users of GIS and what is the current state of
GIS applications? – current and potential applications
 What are the existing barriers that result in the underutilisation of
GIS? – current barriers for applications
 What possible solutions exist for overcoming the barriers and
realising the opportunities that have been identified? – existing
techniques for breaking barriers
 What current opportunities exist for exploitation of GIS beyond
commonly accepted applications? – potential research chances

4. GIS applications review
 Government
 Land management
 Coastal condition monitoring,
 Census statistics,
 Disaster management
Government
GIS
Commercials

Transportation
 Vehicle routing trip
 Short path analysis
 Intelligent Transport System(ITS)

Transportation
Commercial Sectors
 Banking
 Insurance
 Logistics
 Media
 Real-estate

Public & Education
 Library
 Accessibility
 Aquariums
Public
Education

5. Barriers Review
 Organisational Barriers
• Lack of training
• Lack of funding
• Lack of purpose/mission
• Lack of collaborator
• Lack of networking
 Technical Barriers
• Lack of technical context
• Insufficient software and tools
• Lack of available data
• Software usability
How could we cross over the barriers
with technical evolution?

6. Questionnaire Survey
Survey Participants:
• Nottingham Geospatial Institute (University of Nottingham)
• Ordnance Survey (Use and Usability Group)
56%
Percentage
27.3% 36.4%
36.4%
Beginner
28%
9%
Trained Users
9%
Experts
Geospatial
Transport
Civil
Expertise
Geoscience

7. Main Barriers – Survey Results
Percentage
72.7%
54.5%
45.5%
40.9%
31.8%
22.7%
18.2%
GIS
?
Usability
Data
Software
Funding
Network
Training
Awareness

8. Use Purpose – Survey Results
Percentage
77.3%
59.1%
36.4%
22.7%
Geospatial
analysis
Decisionsupport
planning
Database
Management
Map
Presentation
Significant potential in high-level GIS applications

9. Group Interview
Five Main Groups:
• Ordnance Survey Customer Service
• Ordnance Survey Post-Sale Support
• Ordnance Survey User Need Group
• Technical Researchers
• Geospatial Academic Researchers
Consider the opinions from different point of view!

10. Main Interview Results
• Demand for easy-to-use and low-cost GIS toolsets， no obstructive
technical jargon
• Users focus on relatively easy applications rather than sophisticated
applications
• Professional knowledge and training can be an issue even at this high
level of expertise
• Insufficient computation power for large GIS datasets
• Need for novice friendly GIS software tools that incorporate more
sophisticated GIS functionality
• Non-expert users, leading to a move towards web services over
dedicated local software, for novice users.

11. Open-Source GIS
 Advantages for education purpose (open-source codes, transparent)
 Low-cost and accessible codes (free online to all users, even commercials)
 Easy to expandable (easy to integrate with other expert system)

12. Open-Data
 Free to use now (e.g. with limited licence)
 Reduce the cost on product and research
 Pretty good quality now (e.g. around 70% coverage of Open Street map)

13. Cloud Computing
Cloud Features:
• Shared GIS resources
with multiple user
• Lower total cost
• Pay-as-you-go computation
• High-speed cloud server
Potential breaking barriers
• Promote the GIS adoption, training
and information exchange
• Reduce entry (development) cost
• Reduce entry cost for different users
• Satisfy high-speed computation
demands

14. Thank you!
Email:
isxhy@hotmail.com
Michael.Brown@nottingham.ac.uk
Jenny.Harding@ordnancesurvey.co.uk