Case Study 4.1 (M)

GIS 585:

GI Application in Business, Government, Health

& Management

Professor, Dr. Sergei Andronikov

Dean of Academics

GIS Certificate: FORTH course

GIS WORLD

LECTURE 1:

GIS Design & Implementation

GIS 585:

GI Application in Business, Government, Health

& Management

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GIS Design & Implementation

Lecture outline:

• What is GIS Design & why it is important .

• Defining the needs for GIS

• Serving the proper users & serving the users properly.

• Database Design

• GIS Implementation

• Instructions to the Project 1.

• John Harmon, Steven Anderson “”The Design and Implementation of GIS”, Wiley, 2003

• “Geographic Info Systems and Science “ ch. 17.2-17.4, pp.390-402

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GIS Design • 1. Many GIS systems failed since the 80s: a) didn’t work as an analytical tool; b)

produced errors; c) just stop and hang up the computer. Poorly designed as software systems

• 2. Today most of the problems are nontechnical. The main problem is the mismatch between the capabilities of the software and the needs of the users: data and analytical needs, personnel needs, etc.

• 3. Serving the proper users . Institutional setting. Excluding the potential users during the implementation phase.

• 4. Serving the users properly. Software capabilities, data needs, institutional fit (university or business).

• GIS software design.

• GIS system design. Interactions of individual people, groups of people & computers as they function within organization

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GIS System Design • TECHICAL (Internal) Design. Deals with the system functionality and the database:

• Could the system work the way we need it to?

• Have we got the correct data in a correct format?

• Do we have trained people to run the system?

• Can our system adapt to changing demands?

• INSTITUTIONAL (External) Design

• Do we have the funding to permit continued operations?

• Can we obtained data for reasonable cost?

• Do we need to employ programmers to customize the system?

• Will you have an adequate software support ?

• Will you be legally responsible for errors?

• Are we meeting the larger goals of the organization?

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Database Design

• Study Area

• If there are many different projects, it is necessary to consider the respective study areas SEPARATELY.

• Scale

• The smaller the scale - the larger the amount of error, the greater the generalization. Better to take the largest scale maps available for your task.

• Working with raster data models you will need to know the acceptable SIZE of grid cells within the larger map area. BUT it increases the data volume

• Classification

• Use a more detailed classification: - gives the largest amount of data;

- while comparing easy tom aggregate classes using a low level of detail. BUT the chance of errors.

• Coordinate systems & projections

• The more often is converting from and to different projections and coordinate systems, the greater the probability of error.

GIS Conferences & Seminars

1. ESRI Conferences: http://www.esri.com/events 2. ESRI Mid-Atlantic Conference: http://www.esri.com/events/mid-atlantic 3. GIS LOUNGE: https://www.gislounge.com/gis-conferences-and-events/ 4. VAMLIS Map Contest https://www.vamlis.org/mapcontest.aspx

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Defining the needs for GIS • 1. Kind of user and user requirements:

• A. Users with a defined task. Mapping, inventory agencies & utility companies. Most attractive to computer software companies.

• B. Part of the task is defined exactly. Environmental mapping agencies.

• C. No part of the work is defined exactly. University research & teaching group.

• 2. Scope of application

• 3. Technical choices. Vector or raster.

• 4. Finance available.

• 5. Personnel available.

• 6. Organizational aspects. The organization needs to plan how it expects to run its information business over a period of several years.

• 7. The cost of GIS components and staffing requirements. Data input.

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GIS Implementation • Stage 1. Awareness.

• 1. Introducing the new technology:

• a. Top-Down. Ideas pushed from the management to production level

• b. Bottom-Up

• C. Independent third party.

• 2. The impetus for acquiring a GIS:

• a. Spatial information is out of date.

• b. Spatial data is not recorded/ stored in a standardized way: scale, coordinate systems may differ.

• C. Spatial data may not be defined in a consistent manner: different definitions

• d. Data are not shared

• e. New demands are made of the organization.

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GIS Implementation

• Stage 2. Developing system requirements.

User needs analysis of the existing system & the anticipated future needs: interviews, analysis the information product and services, the input data needed, the output products required, and the procedures to generate output products.

The form, accuracy, timeliness, and volume of the products - critical.

• Stage 3. System evaluation .

Alternative systems are proposed and evaluated. Using the analysis from Phase 2, a set of requirements is drawn up. Selection criteria are defined: hardware, software, user-friendliness (Munro, 1983). At the end of this phase, a formal decision must be made whether or not to proceed with acquisition of a GIS.

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GIS Implementation

• Stage 4. Development of an Implementation Plan.

• 1. Justifying a GIS acquisition.

• 2. Cost-Benefit analysis. A. Assessment of the current system.

• B. Benefits: - increased efficiency; - new marketable service. GIS experience; - new non-marketable service. Reports, better graphics.

-better decisions; - intangible benefits. Better communication, public image.

• 3. The Implementation Plan.

1. How technology, information, and people will be molded into an operating information system, a) technology may be purchased before, after or during the data base development, b) data base development - converting existing data into a digital format, c) people - better to create a separate organizational unit.

2. A budget that provides a sufficient funding to complete the job.

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GIS Implementation • Stage 5. System acquisition and Start-Up.

1. To conduct an acceptance test after the system has been installed. Include all the critical functions.

2. Start with a pilot studies. The most expensive part is the data base creation. Establish appropriate data quality control to ensure that data meet the required standards.

• Stage 6. Operational Phase. The GIS facility can be considered to have reached the operational stage when end-users are making effective use of the system. At this phase you maintain the GIS facility and upgrade services

RESPONSIBILTY: a) accuracy of content - the degree to which the data represent the condition they describe; b) accuracy of context. Interrelationship of all the map elements; c) data format and data quality verification; d) problems in combining data sets. Overlay, errors propagation analysis.

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Project 1. GIS Design & Implementation

You have to cover both technical and management details in your report

Suggestions for the report:

• What organization you are working for and what is the main activity of this organization.

• Describe how you explain to your boss the need to introduce GIS for this organization.

• What are the benefits and costs of doing it?

• What are the basic system requirements (system design)?

• What are the steps to implement a GIS (system implementation)

• What sort of institutional changes do you think they need to make in order to use GIS as an important decision tool ?

• Give a critical analysis for a successful GIS implementation.

PRACTICAL GIS PROJECT - 1 PROJECT Layout:

Problem definition and solution approach

Submit a short introduction that includes the following:

• Clearly stated problem, opportunity, issue, or objective

• Approach to the solution

• Scope or limitations of the project

Data

Describe the following as relates to the project data:

• Inputs to the project and data sources

• Computer folder, subfolders, and file structure for the project

Methodology

Include a high-level description of the methodologies used and include the following:

• Outline of steps for data preparation

• Outline of steps for constructing GIS data

• Outline of steps for spatial analysis

Results

Present and discuss output maps and tables and also summarize the results or findings of the case study by preparing the

following:

• Professional-quality map layouts and statistical tables of results

• Short descriptions of the results, referring to figure and table numbers

Discussion and future work

Provide interpretation of the results, recommendations, and suggestions for future work that could be done to remove

limitations or expand the scope of analysis.

GIS PROJECTS • Enhancing Real Estate Application

• Emergency Crisis Management System for the City of Falls Church

• City of Alexandria Projects (with Stephen):

1. Pedestrian Network

2. Service Requests

• Small Businesses Sales/Marketing Growth Modeling

• Fairfax Co. Public Health Analysis

• Admission/Enrollment Package

• NEW CAMPUS Analysis

• VIP Tourist Route

• Media & News Spatially

Project 1 • 1. Goals, Objectives, managing the Project

• 2. Market Analysis

• 3. Needs Assessment

• 4. Technical Design including DB and Software Design

• 5. Institutional Design

• 6. Financials/ Financial Plan (3 YRS.)

• 7. Organizational Support

• 8. Implementation Plan – 1 (current, future)