Democratizing Access To Gis Through Open Source Software And Web Apis

Explaining GIS and Its Value

Defining geographic information systems (GIS)

A geographic information system (GIS) is a framework for gathering, managing, analyzing, and presenting all types of geographical data. GIS integrates hardware, software, and data to capture, manage, analyze, and display information related to the surface of the Earth. This includes data on locations, boundaries, transportation networks, natural features, constructed features, sensor measurements, events, demographic data, and much more.

At its most basic level, GIS provides users with the capability to create maps displaying multiple layers of location-based information. Advanced GIS provides additional capabilities such as spatial analysis, data manipulation, data management, visualization, and prediction modeling. GIS helps reveal deeper insights into data, such as patterns, relationships, and situations supporting better decision making.

Discussing common uses and applications

GIS has a wide range of uses across many industries and domains. Common uses and applications include:

Urban planning and management – Analyzing land usage, transportation networks, utilities infrastructure.
Disaster management – Preparing hazard maps, modeling impacts, planning response.
Resource management – Forest management, agricultural planning, wildlife conservation.
Military operations – Strategic mapping, capability planning, equipment positioning.
Public health – Disease mapping, access to care analysis, epidemiological studies.
Business operations – Site selection, asset tracking, logistics optimization.

These examples demonstrate the broad applicability of GIS for surface modeling, distribution analysis, pattern analysis, and predictive modeling based on location-enabled data.

Outlining benefits of GIS data and analysis

There are many valuable benefits GIS provides to users and organizations:

Visualization – GIS provides dynamic map visualization for patterns, trends, and situations that are geographically complex.
Analysis – GIS enables deep analysis of spatial relationships and location-based patterns for improved insights and decision making.
Data integration – GIS integrates varied location-enabled data sets into consistent information products.
Information sharing – GIS allows easy sharing and accessibility to geospatial data products within and across organizations.
Process automation – GIS automates the process of information gathering, mapping, analysis, and reporting through workflows.
Centralization – GIS centralizes management and governance of geospatial data and analytical models.

Taken together, these benefits enable significant productivity gains, cost savings, and competitive advantages for users of GIS capabilities.

Barriers to GIS Adoption

High costs of proprietary GIS software

The total cost of ownership associated with commercial proprietary GIS software has been prohibitively expensive for many organizations. Upfront licensing costs for commercial products such as ArcGIS can be tens of thousands of dollars or more. There are also ongoing maintenance fees which means costs compound year after year.

The high software licensing costs put GIS out of reach for many smaller organizations and departments within larger entities. Cost has been a major adoption barrier, especially in less affluent countries and for non-profit community organizations.

Data accessibility issues

Obtaining geospatial data for usage in GIS initiatives has also posed challenges. While some government agencies provide free and open GIS data, most valuable data sets come at high cost. Satellite imagery, sensor data, parcel data, infrastructure maps, and other key data sets are sold by commercial data providers at prices unaffordable to many.

The lack of affordable data for analysis has slowed adoption of GIS among cost-conscious organizations. Even when the software is available, limited or poor quality data inputs reduce the usable insights GIS can provide.

Limited analytics functionality

Proprietary GIS tools have often focused more on data gathering, visualization, and reporting capabilities vs advanced analytics and modeling functions. Capabilities like predictive modeling, machine learning, complex query builders, and statistical engines have been embedded at variable depths across platforms. This has limited the analytical value GIS could provide users.

With platforms providing narrow capabilities, organizations have been less compelled to invest in GIS solely for standardized visualization and reporting.

Open Source GIS Software

Introducing QGIS, GeoServer, PostGIS

The emergence of mature open source GIS software provides a no-cost alternative capable of rivaling commercial solutions while avoiding limiting vendor lock-in. Among the most powerful open source options are:

QGIS – Popular open source GIS desktop application for data exploration, analysis, visualization, and mapping.
GeoServer – Platform to publish, analyze, and share geospatial data from various storage formats.
PostGIS – Spatial database extender for PostgreSQL database adding support for GIS objects.

These open source GIS software solutions provide extensive functionality on par with expensive proprietary alternatives. They are licensed using flexible open source licensing which allows free usage and modification.

Comparing capabilities to proprietary tools

Open source GIS boasts an impressive array of features matching or exceeding proprietary counterparts such as ArcGIS, MapInfo, and Intergraph GeoMedia in key capabilities:

Visualization – Interactive and dynamic map creation integrating location-based data from local and cloud sources.
Analysis – Spatial analysis of relationships over geography using buffering, geoprocessing, routing, interpolation and more.
Data management – Handling major raster and vector formats, conversion between formats, data publishing and sharing.
Extensibility – Adding new capabilities via integration with programming languages like Python and R.
Cloud deployment – Deploying GIS servers on infrastructure as a service platforms like AWS.

Leading open source GIS platforms offer the core features users expect in commercial packages but avoid the major downsides such as software licensing costs and inflexible extensions.

Reviewing licensing flexibility

A major advantage of open source GIS platforms is flexible licensing compared to proprietary lock-in. Open source GIS uses licensing models such as GPL and MIT which enable users to freely access, share, modify, and self-host the software:

No licensing fees – Software and tools are available at no cost unlike per-seat or subscription fees.
Source code availability – Full source code available for user review, enhancement, and extension.
No vendor lock-in – Users avoid sole-source reliance and exposure from forced vendor migrations.
Self-hostable – Servers and tools can be hosted on-premises or privately avoiding cloud migration pressures.

This licensing flexibility speeds adoption by reducing barriers to entry while providing long-term insulation from platform changes.

Leveraging Web APIs for Geospatial Data

Explaining purpose and value of location APIs

Web APIs providing location-based data sets and hosting GIS processing functionality are critical for delivering scalability. Location APIs offer simple interfaces for software developers to integrate complex GIS capabilities without capacity planning challenges.

Common benefits provided by geospatial web APIs include:

Rapid GIS application development – Avoid reinventing foundational GIS building blocks with turnkey APIs.
Flexibility and scalability – Leverage cloud infrastructure scaling for variable geospatial workloads.
Rich location datasets – Utilize continuously updated base maps, geocoding, traffic data, and geospatial analytics.

Developers using location web APIs can focus innovation on client-specific vertical GIS solutions versus commodity infrastructure components.

Providing examples (Google Maps, Mapbox, ArcGIS Online)

Popular location APIs with extensive capabilities include:

Google Maps API – Maps, routes, places, geocoding, directions, distance matrix, roads, and more.
Mapbox API – Maps, geocoding, directions, isochrones, geofencing, static images, elevation data.
ArcGIS API – Mapping, spatial analysis, geoprocessing, geometry, geocoding, routing, data hosting.

These tools exemplify rich turnkey building blocks for GIS application development without infrastructure setup and maintenance.

Discussing ease of integration into apps

Location APIs provide simplified integration compared to traditional GIS platforms through:

Developer-friendly APIs – Intuitive REST and JSON interfaces invoking GIS functionality using basic web service calls.
Wide availability of SDKs – Client SDKs available on GitHub for platforms like iOS, Android, JavaScript, Python lowering barrier to leverage APIs.
Embedded UI components – Configurable maps, search boxes, direction panels enabling turnkey user experiences.
Cloud hosting – Servers, data storage, and processing hosted externally hence no local resource management.

With these streamlined integration options, developers can effectively build location-aware features into solutions without deep GIS expertise.

Empowering Developers and Organizations

Enabling creation of custom GIS applications

Between open source GIS software and location web APIs, developers have extensive building blocks to create tailored applications with geospatial capabilities exactly matching their requirements. Developers can:

Utilize core mapping, analytics, and data management engines from open source projects.
Extend platforms by integrating specific data models, algorithms, visualizations, and predictive models using included programming languages.
Embed flexible location-based services from web APIs for geocoding, base maps, directions, spatial queries.
Focus on industry-specific workflows and user experiences enriched by location-based data versus commodity GIS functions.

These options provide unmatched freedom and customization for any use case without restrictive vendor constraints.

Supporting geospatial analysis at low/no cost

For organizations without budgets to spend on expensive proprietary GIS platforms, open source and location APIs open the door to affordable location-powered solutions by:

Avoiding software licensing and data feed subscription costs.
Preventing vendor lock-in which erodes negotiating leverage.
Enabling free evaluation pilots to prove value before purchase decisions.
Shifting fixed costs to variable costs through metered location APIs.

Flexible access options lower the barrier to adding location context in both operational systems and strategic projects.

Democratizing access to location intelligence

Combined, open source GIS and location APIs make location intelligence far more accessible by:

Allowing small entities to leverage advanced geospatial capabilities once only available to large enterprises.
Enabling non-profits and community organizations to enrich analysis using geo-visualization and spatial modeling.
Empowering developers and entrepreneurs everywhere to build location-based products.
Spurring innovation of novel solutions tailored to specialized segments and niches.

Open GIS dramatically expands the problem sets, users, and use cases which can realize value from geography-based information.