6/3/2015Andrew Frank1 How to Assess a GIS Application Andrew U. Frank Geoinformation TU Vienna Overheads at:

6/3/2015Andrew Frank2 Overview Trends: GIS software Hardware Influence of technical trends on use of GIS How to predict success for GIS applications? Value produced larger than cost! Value = improvement of decision ! Concentrate on decision supported.

6/3/2015Andrew Frank3 Trends New developments are reported every day! Which are relevant for GIS projects? Projects must consider the likely technical development during the lifetime of the project. Design not for today's but for tomorrows capabilities!

6/3/2015Andrew Frank4 Software trends Interoperability: more standards, less dominance of proprietary GIS software. -OGC standards -Open Source software (e.g. GRASS, Spring) -Web appliances (no need to buy software)

6/3/2015Andrew Frank5 Hardware trends Smaller: more mobile computing Longer Battery life! Faster communication Ubiquitous computing: a computer everywhere and always!

6/3/2015Andrew Frank6 Opportunities everywhere! Spatial information is needed everywhere. It is generally estimated that 80% of decisions depend on spatial information! How to assess the viability of a GIS project? Which projects will be successful?

6/3/2015Andrew Frank7 Influence of the technology change on use of geographic information We can provide the information where it is used, not distribute collections which we produce ahead of time. Geographic information is expected in direct and specialized response to the decision situation; Requires many specialized products.

6/3/2015Andrew Frank8 Successful GIS applications produce Value! What is the value a GIS application produces? A GIS produces information – what is it used for? Information is used to make decisions – this is the only use of information. Therefore: concentrate on the decision a GIS application will support!

6/3/2015Andrew Frank9 Start with a decision the GIS should support! Identify an often made or very important spatial decision for which a GIS can produce helpful information. List all factors that influence the decision and identify the ones a GIS can provide.

6/3/2015Andrew Frank10 Example: select a hotel Factors which influence: Location, Distance to other sites (railway station, museum) Rooms available for the data I need a room Other services (restaurant) etc.

6/3/2015Andrew Frank11 What is found on a web site? Searching for a hotel we find: Pictures of hotel, number of rooms, Info about restaurant, Picture of room. Missing: Map with location Price Availability

6/3/2015Andrew Frank12 GIS application must provide exactly the data necessary for the decision Not more! Not less! More is noise and confuses the users. Less means not all information required is provided. Attention: the data must provided in context!

6/3/2015Andrew Frank13 A successful GIS application produces more value than its cost The cost is obtained from accounting; some difficulties for public administration exist. How to assess the value? If the new application replaces an existing spatial data collection, then the cost of the new application is compared with the cost of the existing application.

6/3/2015Andrew Frank14 How for new applications? What is the value of the information? The value of the information is the improvement in the decision. Decision without GIS vs. decision with information from GIS.

6/3/2015Andrew Frank15 How does a GIS improve decisions? The same effect is achieved with less resource utilization. The goal is achieved faster. or: The risk of failing is reduced. This improvement can be assessed.

6/3/2015Andrew Frank16 Cost must be less than value! For a GIS application to be successful, its cost must be less than its value! Cost: data (at least maintenance), software (maintenance), personnel, material, etc.

6/3/2015Andrew Frank17 Value How often is a decision made? How much is the value? Some decision produce small value but are often made! Some decisions are made only once but have a huge value.

6/3/2015Andrew Frank18 GIS applications must be specific To serve clients well, the application must provide the information for the specific decision situation. Public organizations have specific mandates, e.g. collecting data and produce general purpose maps.

6/3/2015Andrew Frank19 Chain of contributing organization, not a direct collection to user It is often assumed that the organization which collects the data can provide the data directly to the decision maker. This does not work in the distribution of other products, why should it work for GI?

6/3/2015Andrew Frank20 Specialized applications require specialized marketing Multi-step chain of contributors of ever more specialized service. Compare the marketing of car navigation systems: 2 collectors of raw data (possibly acquired from a NMA) Sold to producers of navigation systems Which then sell their products through multi-level channels to stores, which sell to the public.

6/3/2015Andrew Frank21 Specialized products should be tested in markets The assessment whether a GI product is useful to improve decisions cannot be predicted, it can only be demonstrated in a market where users are free to decide if they want to use this product. This is, in the European situation, best determined by a company learning if it can make money in producing this product.

6/3/2015Andrew Frank22 Conclusion Technical development is going forward: Software: away from proprietary systems and towards open source systems GIS software: interoperability through standards, Web applications (Web 2.0) Computing everywhere, anytime Ubiquitous computing

6/3/2015Andrew Frank23 Conclusion for GIS applications Produce information at the location it is used, not as book or map ahead of time. Needs very specialized applications, produced in cooperation of multiple companies.

6/3/2015Andrew Frank24 Success if value produced is high Value of information is in the use of the information to improve a decision. Specialized presentation of Geographic Information to serve the largest possible number of users and produce the maximum improvement of the decision.