GIS and IoT Business Applications

BY GIS CONTRIBUTOR



To most, GIS is still a strictly academic system. While an increasing number of people are at least vaguely aware of GIS programs’ mapping and analytical capabilities, the actual applications are not particularly well understood. But as these specific programs become more popular and are used more frequently, their applications are becoming more mainstream and they’re often tied in to Internet of Things (or IoT) initiatives in business.

The basic idea behind this tie-in is that augmenting IoT data with interactive GIS mapping can significantly improve understanding of the data. In other words, there are efforts being made in numerous aspects of business to gain a better understanding of geographical areas and patterns. And doing so armed with GIS can yield more useful information.

Companies are already analyzing geography in numerous ways to improve their efficiency and functionality. Most commonly, this calls to mind the efforts of companies to gain a better understanding of where to build new facilities, where to store resources to minimize waste, and even where to lay down power lines or electrical cables if necessary. But increasingly, there are also shipping concerns that can be addressed by way of geographical analysis. With the integration of WiFi into fleet vehicles, drivers and manager are now privy to the real-time sharing of vehicle diagnostics, which means GPS tracking, routing information, and more.

REAL-TIME FLEET TRACKING. IMAGE: FLEETMATICS

This is a strong example of how IoT practices can help businesses to improve efficiency and that’s only through WiFi and GPS tracking. Implementing GIS programs for the same purposes effectively paints a better version of the same picture. The data that can be collected through GIS analysis can yield automatic reports, and those can greatly assist businesses in performing the aforementioned assessments and making relevant decisions.

And that’s just how GIS could be used to enhance existing IoT practices in industry. The truth is, GIS integration with the IoT may also lead to entirely new practices meant to make our world safer and more efficient. It’s been suggested that spatial data could be used to change traffic lights or lock gates, and even that we could reach a stage where actions could be caused through map manipulation in response to gathered data. These types of functions are essentially hypothetical right now, but the ideas demonstrate the potential of GIS and IoT integration to change industries and create new initiatives.

This will all be fascinating to keep an eye on as GIS programs are implemented more broadly. Discussions about “smart” homes, cars, and transportation could quickly morph into talk about a “smart” world as GIS does its part within the IoT.

About the Author:
Charles Bell is a freelance writer who’s passionate about covering a number of different topics. In addition to writing about the latest technology, Charles has a soft spot for anything related to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When he’s not researching or writing, you can find him playing Fallout 4 on his PS4.

Source: GIS Lounge - Maps and GIS

Maps4news lets you easily make awesome maps for print and web media

By Aleks Buczkowski

When I see an awesome map in a newspaper or magazine I always wonder how much work it required to design and draw it in Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw… In fact maybe much less than I thought.

Maps4news is a platform that allows for designing awesome looking maps online and downloading them in a vector format needed for printed media (you can of course add images to the internet).

The platform lets graphic designers spend time on their own magic, rather than spending hours on the basics of creating a map background. The tool allows you to select one of predefined map styles or to create a new one. Than you can add multiple points, polygons and lines as well as graphic elements like arrows or icons. At the end you can download the map as an image or an editable vector file.

Maps4news graphic engine allows for couple of cool features. In the example on the video below you see that it can scoot labels on your map around your image, text box or marker (in that example represented by the dot).



Mathijs van Dijk, marketing director of Maps4news told us that over 120 newspapers around the world use their platform and the company is growing fast. Basically if you have to do a map for printed media or a simple not very complex interactive map you use Maps4News,
and if you have to make an awesome comprehensive looking map data visualisation you use Mapbox, CartoDB or ArcGIS online.

The platform is really fast and easy to use. You can generate 10 maps for free to test it. Below you’ll find couple of examples from newspapers around the world.