GEOSPATIAL REVOLUTION

Sri Lanka can make use of cutting-edge technology, says a reader.

During a recent visit to the US, I spent four months studying new aspects and trends in development technology. My study led me to discover that Geography Information Systems (GIS) is the state-of-the-art technology used extensively in development activities today. Whilst employment figures in the US are not encouraging, the only jobs that are freely available are for GIS-qualified personnel. On the website gis.com, Emily Stover DeRocco, Assistant Secretary – Employment And Training Administration, US Department of Labor, states: "Across the country, tens of thousands of trained [geospatial] workers are needed to fill positions that are going begging."

GIS is a key emerging and evolving industry, according to a US Department Of Labor 2003 report. The geospatial industry is a focal point of President George W. Bush's 'High-Growth Job-Training Initiative'.

We, on the other hand, tend to consider geography as just another subject. This is far from the reality. It is a multifaceted discipline: its ramifications are so far reaching that large US corporations and government departments see unlimited advantages in running their operations at unbelievable rate of efficiency, and raking in unexpected dividends. This new tool could help businesses in planning the selection of sites, transportation, logistics, forestry and environment programmes, manufacturing, finance, real estate, communications, distribution networking, restructuring operations, crime prevention and market analysis – all of which engage facets of geography.

Most all industries could benefit from GIS technology – including retailing, transportation/logistics, real estate, eco-system management and all government organisations. As the website says, it can integrate different systems to save valuable resources, visualise an organisation's assets and streamline workflow processes. The site explains: "GIS planning should not be taken lightly. Forget about actually implementing GIS for the moment. Just planning GIS takes a commitment of resources and people. Before you begin, you need to know that your organisation understands the distinction between planning and implementing, and that it is prepared to provide the resources needed to make the planning happen." Making the case means understanding what needs to be done – and what it will take to get it done. The end result of this stage is a project proposal which makes that case and explicitly seeks approval to launch the formal planning process.

The Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA) of Washington DC uses GIS to both monitor and control the millions of commuters coming in and going out of the capital. It schedules bus and train times – especially at rush hours – and is responsible for the smooth flow of traffic. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) uses GIS to monitor crime and can predict locations where crime is most likely to occur, and also to track down criminals. A delivery system using GIS has reduced driving time by seven per cent and fuel usage by almost five per cent. Sales territories are analysed through GIS vis-à-vis volumes for expected sales, and targets are apportioned and optimised for each representative. GIS maps used by the public-health services disclose the ratio of population to physicians present in any one area, thereby facilitating better health-care services. The Pacific Disaster Center has developed and applied a vulnerability-exposure-sensitivity-resilience model to map people and facilities exposed to flood risk in the Lower Mekong River Basin. The sky is the limit with GIS.

The super-efficient technology of GIS is "computer processed and used as an analytic framework for solving a problem – and understanding past, present and future situations by using the system to both manage and integrate data".

Having spent some productive time with the professors at a renowned university in Virginia, which has a highly rated GIS Center For Excellence specialising in global studies, I posed to them our country's situation – especially after the tsunami. They were willing to take up the challenge and come to Sri Lanka to start a pilot project from which our citizens could learn the latest development technologies – only if we are interested;

Sqn. Ldr. M.M. Khalid (Retd.), Nawala.
