So You`re Studying Geography But Have Never Heard Of Gis? Time To Get Learning!!

I`ve met quite a few people studying geography lately who, either haven`t heard of GIS (Geographical Information Systems), or don`t seem particularly interested in it. As far as I`m concerned, that is slightly ludicrous. Imagine wanting to do mathematical or statistical analysis and not having a calculator or software programme to do it for you. You wouldn`t dream of it. And in a world where everything we do, in every given location is being recorded (by things like smart phones and sensors), there are masses of geographical data that can only be analysed and visualised using GIS. You may not realise it but Google maps is a sort of GIS.

GIS (or digital geography, as I sometimes like to call it) has been around for several decades now. But, as with all softwares and digital concepts, it has developed rapidly. Traditionally the largest GIS company in the world has been ESRI and their ArcGIS software is by far the most well known and used. But other companies and open source alternatives (like QGIS) are catching up.

In recent years we are seeing an explosion in web mapping i.e. using the internet for storing, analysing and sharing geo data. ESRI are understandably heavily involved in this and now offer their ArcGIS software as an online entity. This means that you no longer have to have their desktop software downloaded on to your computer. ArcGIS online allows you to upload your digital geographic data in to ESRI`s cloud data storage area, then use it for analysis purposes or for creating web map applications for sharing insight in to the data with others over the internet. Such GIS outputs have far greater ability to communicate a message about the data to people (than traditional GIS outputs) because of their interactive nature, allowing your audience to drill in to the data and explore it for themselves. I`m a big advocate of it.

So anyway, that`s what I`m here for. I`m passionate about GIS and keen to share the knowledge with anyone who is studying geography and wants to get up to speed. I`ve been teaching people in the civil service how to use it for nearly ten years and would love to show you why it is so important for understanding our world. Do get in touch if you`d like to discuss.