Huge amounts of public service information are linked to addresses, maps
or other location-based data, and in recent years 'Geographical Information
Systems' (GIS) - digital mapping or other location-based information -
have become a mainstream part of public sector information strategy.
GIS also has a key role to play in the Transformational Government policy agenda, which requires a greater focus on the citizen and greater efficiency in data sharing. Options include web-based interfaces; databases that can be searched by postcode; and mobile handheld systems. Latterly too open source and free or cheap GIS systems such as Google Maps have emerged to create a mixed economy in GIS alongside traditional official and copyrighted data sources. One result has been the emergence of 'mash-ups' - innovative combinations of geographical data with every other kind of data imaginable.
Our conference will take a detailed look at what technologies are out there; how they are being used; how they could improve services; and how they could save your organisation time and money. GIS is no longer an optional, super-specialised field: it forms part of mainstream communications and information policy across all areas of an organisation. Don't be left behind!