Answer

Geographic Information Systems

Information should be managed and organized into systems that would enable efficient decision-making. Data concerning land surfaces are usually organized and stored by the renowned Geographical Information System (GIS) to create more utility. GIS provides accurately the details that describe the geographical aspects of data. GIS organizes data into different kinds of maps. Many organizations have benefited from the GIS operations. However, GIS has both its advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage of GIS is its broad applicability in fields such as engineering, military sciences, transport, and business management. The military applies GIS in location intelligence to identify potential security threats. Several authors have given variable views about the applications, advantages, and disadvantages of Geographic Information Systems. This paper is purposely documented to compare and contrast the approach of different authors to GIS. Particularly, the conventional and military uses and advantages and disadvantages of GIS have been discussed in depth. The subject article used for comparison is the usability of geographic information—factors identified from qualitative analysis of task-focused user interviews by Jenny Harding (2013).

Geographical Information Systems are extensively used to run and manage businesses. According to Jenny (2013), Code-Point Open can be used to locate Girobank (L30 4GB) postcodes provided as part of OS OpenData (Harding, 2013). The Code-Point Open can be used in the geographical analysis of customers and asset management. GIS enables customer mapping, a concept that allows businesses to identify the potential markets for their products (Stillwell, Geertman, & Openshaw, 2013). The information can be further broken according to the consideration of the customers using the color coding applications provided by GIS (Stillwell, Geertman, & Openshaw, 2013). GIS also provides entrepreneurs with business geographical information that include physical features such as roads and water, availability of workers, and existence of a gap in the market (Stillwell, Geertman, & Openshaw, 2013). All the required factors can be mapped on top of each other using GIS. Therefore, GIS can be successfully used in site selection for a business. However, despite the many uses of GIS in business, it is not widely used across businesses. Therefore, entrepreneurs should seek to integrate GIS software extensively into their business infrastructure.

Harding Jenny (2013) also highlighted environmental management as remarkably dependent on the GIS software for accuracy, consistency, and efficiency. The existence of GIS has enabled the mapping of environmental management strategies (Harding, 2013). Environmentalists use GIS to model dynamic environmental phenomena such as land and air quality, population density, urban development, and land features in a column (Stillwell, Geertman, & Openshaw, 2013). The Global Earth Observation System of Systems is used to map the Earth’s Sensor Data and to monitor the Earth (Stillwell, Geertman, & Openshaw, 2013). Map images can also be viewed through OS getamap and OpenStreetMap (Brown, Sharples, Harding, Parker, Bearman, Maguire, & Jackson, 2013). Thus, any slight changes such as climate change can be easily detected and appropriate corrective measures taken on time.

GIS is also used for emergency planning. Planning for emergencies corroborates the use of GIS in health and medical resource management. The emergency response team uses GIS to locate places accurately and timely. However, Jenny (2013) observed that GIS usually uses different names for the official names of localities. The software uses the Geography Markup Language that might assign places different names from the commonly known names (Harding, 2013). Consequently, it has been suggested that a co-software or application should be developed and installed for translational purposes when using GIS to locate places (Stillwell, Geertman, & Openshaw, 2013). Transport has also advanced following the easy way to the location of routes using the GIS. GIS is available as field software as well as a phone application.

The application of GIS in health care is indispensable. Clients and the National Health Service can use the software in locating the different catchment areas for healthcare professionals (Harding, 2013). Furthermore, the information regarding the distribution of health specialists such as oncologists and surgeons can be mapped using GIS for easy referrals and management in the Department of Health. Human health is also dependent on various geographical aspects such as the quality of the environment, distribution of natural resources, and man-made resources (Stillwell, Geertman, & Openshaw, 2013). These factors can be evaluated using maps present in the GIS to determine the potential threats to human well-being. The software can also be used by engineers for planning urban designs. Civil planning is also done by the geological information provided in GIS mapping (Stillwell, Geertman, & Openshaw, 2013). However, GIS has been described as compacted with models and information that require time to analyze because a lot of data is piled up in one map.

Military and defense forces rely extensively on their geographical knowledge to execute their operations successfully in air, land, and on the water bodies. These positions (land, water bodies, and air) contain physical and man-made features that the military can use for location and planning. The significance of geography in the military cannot be understated, and each military personnel must underscore the available relief features in their destined locations prior to military operations (Satyanarayana & Yogendran, 2013). According to Jenny (2013), contextual mapping, a service GIS accurately provides, is important in underscoring geospatial statistical information. An example of military GIS is the OPGEOSERVER that is operated by geographical specialists (Satyanarayana & Yogendran, 2013). Geospatial intelligence links military to geography because it enables military personnel to map data, conduct intelligent analysis, and provide a basis for the choice of their operations (Satyanarayana & Yogendran, 2013).

Geographical information is important in conflict management, peacekeeping, and most importantly, in fighting terrorism in the 21^st century.  The military applications of GIS are at three levels, which are, at the base-plant, barracks, and battlefield. At the base-plant, defense organizations map geographical data to support training and planning using applications such as Digital Geographical Information (DGI) (Satyanarayana & Yogendran, 2013). Barracks require adequate management of the environment and the human resource residing within. GIS would provide the necessary information used in decision-making concerning Barrack reorganization and closure. GIS, through the mapping of the various attributes of weather and environmental qualities, can be used to manage the environment in the military camps and barracks. In the battlefield, geographical information obtained from GIS can be used for situational mapping, airspace management, map distribution, and supply, maintaining battle records, and in command, control and communications (Satyanarayana & Yogendran, 2013). Military GIS has the advantage of storing large and extensive information that does not need to be viewed and scrutinized as a whole (Satyanarayana & Yogendran, 2013). However, the imageries used in GIS are short time snapshots that can lead to ill-informed decisions that assume other statistical derivations and vulnerability to deception.

Despite the wide range of GIS applications, GIS has both advantages and disadvantages. Jenny (2013), as the reference author, has clearly stipulated the pros and cons of GIS in all the models. In her article, she described Code-Point Open as being effective in the location of positions instantaneously. GIS gives the details about the location of objects verbatim. Organization and centralization of statistical data for planning is a key role of GIS. Jenny (2013) outlined the importance of GIS in planning for emergencies and urban designs. GIS supports various applications and can be used in a vast array of the field from basic geography, health, insurance to the military. GIS is also safe, economical, and space saving (Bonham-Carter, 2014). The space that could have been used to store countless maps can be used to store other documents. However, Jenny (2013) declared that GIS can be costly and voluminous in information. GIS information also risks subjectivity because different recipients are likely to interpret the same information differently (Rantala, Salminen, Raisamo, & Surakka, 2013). The credibility of the sources of the geographical information might also be in question.

Jenny (2013) described the importance of contextual usability of GIS; that the information derived from GIS must be moderated to fit a particular context and user. For instance, patient transport planning requires modification of the data to cover all the health care data in the country. Familiarity with the GIS technology enables its usability and therefore, users unfamiliar with GIS are likely to find data retrieval from GIS a challenge (Brown, Sharples, Harding, Parker, Bearman, Maguire, & Jackson, 2013). These shortcomings are in concert with the current literature that emphasizes that GIS has a complex data structure, is expensive to install, and uses complex analysis trajectory.

In conclusion, GIS has a wide range of applications from the markedly advancing technology. Different authors have different opinions concerning the viability and usefulness of GIS. However, GIS is an important developmental tool in both developed and developing countries. It can be applied in transport, health care, environmental conservation, urban planning and design, military, and business management. GIS is certainly a fast-growing idea that refines geographical statistics into maps.