THE USE OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) FOR INFORMATION INTEGRATION AND ANALYSIS IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is an integrated digital database used to input, store, transform, analyze, model, and report information with reference to geographical and spatial locations. GIS can compile maps, satellites, surveys, and aerial photos; retrieve and manipulate these data; analyze spatial statistics; and report maps and plans relative to this information (Foote and Lynch 2006). The United States Geological Survey (2007) cites that most of the information that people have about the society and the world in general, connotes reference to a certain location wherein every single piece of information can be traced to a specific point within the globe. Transportation networks, economic activities, characteristics of the population, political jurisdictions and other aspects of the social environment are some of the most vital information regarding the world. The accumulation of these elements require extensive manual labor if digital assistance is not possible. Thus, the greatest strength of the Geographic Information Systems lies in its ability to integrate diverse and immense amount of information in a spatial context and to come up with a conclusion regarding the relationship of this information.
Foote and Lynch (2006) state that Geographic Information Systems is now increasingly used in the government, business sector, research undertakings, and public decision making. GIS poses various advantages in natural resources management through its ability to locate and analyze wildlife habitats, forests, wild and scenic rivers, wetlands, agricultural lands and recreation locations. The area of facilities management also benefits through the use of GIS in determining the locations of underground cables and pipes, balancing electrical network connections, planning facility maintenance, and monitoring energy use. Furthermore, GIS has recently recorded innovative advantages in street-networking specifically in matching addresses, location analysis, site selection, and development of evacuation strategies. Finally, GIS has been very useful for the local, state and national governments’ land management efforts. GIS is applied in zoning, subdivision planning, acquisition of lands, policies on environmental effects, water quality management, and maintenance of property ownership.
Ventura (1995) claims that Geographic Information Systems renders tremendous benefits in the integration and analysis of data, and decision making processes in the local units of government. Municipal and local state offices as well as federal agencies are constantly concerned with land-related decisions pertaining to real property, infrastructure development and land use; community crimes; inadequate transportation; environmental pollution; and updates in geographic information. The collation and storage of these data can be effectively managed through the Geographic Information Systems (pp. 461-467). GIS application in the local government starts with the establishment of a centralized database which includes data regarding the locality such as housing locations, service facilities, and road networks as well as various information from the engineering, finance, business, and public services sectors. Most GIS applications in the local government use property tax identification codes in data storage. All spatial information is stored in either proprietary (adding an item to the spatial data inputted) or tabular formats (getting one item from the spatial data and adding it to one table). These formats can accommodate queries regarding the identification of land parcels with delinquent and inconsistent property taxes while coloring the specific map of a land parcel at the same time. Manipulation of the database can provide the name, address and contact number of the landowner (Wilson 1995, p.1). The primary notion of GIS application in the local government is the requirement that local government agencies from the different counties and municipalities will make their geographic information freely available to government offices at the regional, state and federal levels in a process called “vertical integration”. Furthermore, local authorities employ two database models in the analysis of data gathered from the GIS: raster GIS which divides the world into a series of pixels or cells, and vector GIS which portray the world as a series of nodes, lines and areas. Either of the models perform spatial processes such as address matching (relating data from separate sources through street address or zip codes), buffering (the development of new areas in relation to areas in the vector GIS), and overlays (combination of two or more data and enforcement of planar) in data analysis (Harvey 2003, p. 28).
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