Top Benefits of Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Organizations are increasing their reliance on geographic information and location data as it helps them improve strategic decision-making. According to a recent report, the global geographic information systems (GIS) market is slated to expand from USD 8.1 billion in 2020 to USD 14.5 billion by 2025.

Let us learn more about GIS and its benefits.

What is GIS?

A GIS is a tool system that captures and analyzes geographically referenced information. The framework uses data that is attached to a unique location and analyzes spatial data that enable enterprises to study maps and learn hidden geographical patterns. Besides enterprises, GIS is a robust solution for communities, cities, and countries.

Key Advantages of GIS

Government and business have already identified several benefits for GIS, and they will continue inventing new ones going forward. Here are some of the top merits of GIS.

1) Improved Decision Making

Regional and location information helps companies make better business decisions. For example, a retail store can decide upon the location of their next outlet depending on location insights, geofencing services, a market analysis of customers with the help of location intelligence, among others.

They can plan marketing personas and strategies, innovate with new mediums of communication, and launch direct mail campaigns. GIS also assists governments while making decisions regarding zone planning, urban planning, conserving natural resources, and protecting the environment, among others.

2) Reduced Operational Costs

Besides helping companies improve their functional performance, GIS also helps them in reducing costs. They can boost and control their operational tasks and reconfigure company procedures with the help of GIS. Organizations can enhance tracking their daily fleet activities and maintenance schedules, thereby saving costs related to operational expenses, staff time, and efficient scheduling.

3) Enhanced Communication

Visual map data can assist companies in storytelling and help in understanding situations in a better way. This results in improved communication among different departments and professional fields. With detailed GIS insights, firms can provide their clients with better solutions and gradually increase their clientele.

Moreover, enterprises can identify their top clients and leverage spatial issues to spot regional areas where similar census apply to focus on industry development.

4) Better Way to Record Geographical Data

GIS helps in maintaining crucial geographical data and records about the old and new changes in different regions. Several firms are responsible for geographical accounting and keeping track of cultural geographies like a population census, land ownership, and administrative boundaries. Other examples include forest inventories, biological inventories, environmental measurements, agriculture applications, and more. With GIS, managing these types of systems becomes easier and seamless with full transaction support and reporting tools. Government organizations can also use mapping applications to engage with communities and improve policymaking.

In the upcoming years, several smart cities are expected to expand GIS use cases further for urban planning, disaster management, and transport management. Cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) coupled with GIS analytics software is expected to expand the GIS market in upcoming years.