Business GIS for Everyone

This blog takes an informal look into the debates and methods related to business GIS and mapping

A New Blog, and a New Direction: Geography and GIS Education and Practice for Business

Author: Dr. Murray Rice

Above Average Hunting and Fishing Spending by ZIP Code

Until recently, Business GIS has been a well-kept secret. Mind you, its practitioners and teachers haven't meant it to be a secret at all. But the truth is that for many years the application of geographic information systems technology to everyday problem-solving and decision-making in the business realm has been largely the domain of specialists who work well outside of public view, and often without understanding and appreciation even within their own organizations.

This undercover status effectively parallels the public trajectory of awareness for geography, the "parent" discipline for Business GIS. Geography has a long (and unwanted) tradition of being misunderstood and under-appreciated (Rice and Hernandez 2016). Dobson (2014), for example, points out that few job listings include the term "geographer", even though the research, interpretation, and communication skills gained in any geography degree program are widely demanded. Indeed, Murphy (2018) provides a masterful depiction of the broad scope of geographic thinking and analysis that applies to both basic and advanced challenges organizations of all kinds need to solve today. Cutter et al. (2002) address the same theme by providing 10 "Big Questions in Geography" that are fundamental to human progress. Geography has always been much more than a category in trivia games ("What's the capital of North Dakota?"), and geographers are doing more than ever before to dispel the notion that geographic knowledge and expertise are not that important. People like Caliper, the host of this blog and the builders of a business that exists because their software contributes great value to business, are primary examples of this growing and powerful movement to demonstrate the power of geospatial analysis.

So, while there has been an extended period of challenge for geography in gaining a foothold in public perception, Business GIS is one component of the overall field that is leading a potential renaissance. Business GIS provides a wealth of new, clear, and powerful applications that demonstrate the relevance of space and place in everyday life. But for these applications to have value in spreading the word about Geography and GIS, these cases and examples need to be communicated well. That's the focus of this blog. This blog aims to be a practical, ongoing guide that provides a bridge between the technical capabilities of GIS and the outcomes such technologies can produce that contribute tangible value to businesses and the decisions they make every day.

This blog focuses squarely on Business GIS applications because I believe that business represents the single most substantial opportunity for rapid GIS growth. The business applications for GIS are many and varied, and the economic incentives for developing of such applications are substantial. GIS has already made substantial inroads into the business applications market (just look to Caliper for a great example of that), but much more remains to be done.

Consider the case of Google Maps. Google Maps constitutes by far the single greatest case of the successful introduction of a geographic technology into modern society. Google Maps and parallel apps from Bing and Apple have become a ubiquitous presence in our world. It can be assumed that provision of an event invitation does not need to be accompanied by directions – just give the address and people will find it.

The success of Google Maps will be difficult if not impossible to duplicate, but that's not the point here. The key point is that Google Maps was able to tap into an underlying interest and need for geographic information that was (and is) present in the general population. In a parallel fashion, there is room for more advanced and specialized geo-analytics that are user-friendly, accessible, and provide access to advanced geographic insights that go far beyond where the nearest coffee shop or gas station can be found.

This blog is not nearly as ambitious as that. We will not be building the next Google Maps here. But, what we do have at present is an array of GIS technologies that, while not as simple to operate as Google Maps, do provide businesses with access to advanced geographic insights. We do not have a Google Maps-type breakthrough on the business analytics front (yet), but we do have a spectrum of capabilities that deserve the attention of managers and executives everywhere. This state of being represents an enormous step forward for the use and accessibility of geographic analysis compared to 20 or 30 years ago.

This blog is intended to act as a bridge in helping businesspeople access the geographic analyses that meet their current needs. The aim here is for each blog entry to highlight a need for geographic analysis in no-nonsense terms, followed by discussion and description of how GIS can be used to meet this particular need. In some posts the GIS discussion will not be the big thing: occasionally we will connect our usual GIS focus to other topics, like retail and logistics industry trends, or to general issues relevant to GIS analysis, like the status of Geography and Geographers in society and the job market. Bottom line, this blog is not intended to act as a GIS how-to textbook; instead this is more of a "what's possible" discussion starter that will supply you with good ideas and inspiration, and points you to some good resources to get things done. So while the blog won't be quite as strictly practical as having an in-house Business GIS expert, following it over time and referring to the resources I point you to will help to get any business on the path to true geographic problem-solving through a well-rounded Business GIS understanding.

One final word: the blog will focus any implementation commentary and guidance that does happen to be included on use of Caliper Corporation's Maptitude GIS software. Why Maptitude? We won't get into detailed discussion of the pluses and minuses of various GIS packages here, but I will summarize my thinking on Maptitude in two points:

1. Maptitude is a fully capable geo-analytical powerhouse that is well adapted to address the analytical needs of business in particular. There's a reason that so many in the business geography and GIS circles I frequent use Maptitude regularly. Now, some knowledgeable GIS folks may have looked at Maptitude in the past and found it wanting. Fair enough. But to those colleagues, I would say for the sake of your own understanding of the contemporary GIS world, give Maptitude another look. Maptitude has massively expanded its feature base over the last five years. You would be doing yourself a favor if you check out its current features.
2. As well as being powerful, Maptitude is also extremely user-friendly. This is one thing you have to experience for yourself. I won't tell you what you should think, but for me Maptitude offers the single most logical and streamlined user interface I can think of in the current GIS community. Fewer clicks = more work done.

But honestly, should you want, many things that can be done in Maptitude can be duplicated with some effort in other GIS packages. So, everyone interested in Business GIS can gain something from following along, even if your favorite GIS software doesn't come from Caliper. Please join me in this blog on an ongoing  tour of business problems and solutions offered by business GIS software as implemented by Maptitude.

Meet the Blogger

Dr. Murray Rice is a professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment at the University of North Texas. Dr. Rice has been teaching and doing research on the where and why of business activity for over 30 years. He has practical experience from a decade of running his own business GIS consulting firm, and a unique style of communication from almost two decades of teaching business geography undergraduate and graduate students at North Texas. His connection to the applied side of geography is substantial, as he is a past executive director of the Applied Geography Conference and a former chair of the Business Geography Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers. He earned a B.E. in Engineering Physics, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Geography, from the University of Saskatchewan, and has been solving business location and marketing problems using Maptitude since 1997. Dr. Rice lives in Denton, Texas with his wife, two sons, and a couple of dogs with character.

References

Cutter, S. (2002) , R. Golledge, and W.L. Graf. 2002. The big questions in geography. The Professional Geographer 54(3): 305-317.

Dobson, J. (2014) Geography in the workplace: Good news to share. Ubique 34(2): 2.

Murphy, A. (2018) Geography: Why it Matters. Polity Press.

Rice, Murray D. & T. Hernandez (2016) Perspectives on an evolving research field: Location Intelligence and its representation at the Applied Geography Conferences, 1978 to 2012, Papers in Applied Geography, 2(3), 271-283.