About EGIS

UNDERSTANDING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

One common misconception is that a Geographic Information System (GIS) is simply a computer package to make maps. While maps are one product of a GIS, there is much more that a GIS can do.

At the most basic level, a GIS manages information about locations and their physical relationships to each other. It can examine how subjects move through space, whether they are people or pollutants. This management of spatial information allows a GIS to create new knowledge or understanding of situations and/or locations.

A GIS is called a system, because rather than just software, it is an integration of five basic components:

  1. People are the most important component of a GIS.  These include not just technical specialists to run the system, but planners, managers, scientists, and engineers. People must develop procedures and define the tasks of a GIS.
  2. Data is a very important, and often the most expensive, component of a GIS. Data includes any information that relates to geography and specialty fields. This could include information about air and water quality, food establishments, major power producers, landfills, EHA permits, underground storage tanks, parcels, flood zones, or census data. The quality and accuracy of data is an important consideration, as is information describing the data itself, or metadata.
  3. Hardware is the computer system on which a GIS operates. GIS software runs on a wide range of hardware types.
  4. Software provides the functions and tools needed to store, analyze, and display geographic information. It can include other non-GIS software such as databases, drawing, and statistical software.
  5. Methods for a successful GIS require well-designed implementation plans and business rules, describing how the technology should be applied.