1. No category

Nothing Down: How to start your GIS
project with little or no cost
Ruslan Rainis (Prof)
Opensource GIS Research Group
School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Minden 11800, Penang, Malaysia
Email: rruslan@usm.my
Geoinformation Science in Transforming Education and Research for Sustainable Tomorrow and ‘the
Bottom Billions’
Background
• Well-known that GIS is useful to many
organizations for various routine, tactical &
strategic decision making process.
• But still many organizations do not yet
implement/use GIS for various reasons.
• One major reason – cost
– Can we start GIS project with little or no cost?
GIS 101
COMPONENTS OF GIS
• Not just a technology - an integration of five basic components
provides functions and tools to store, analyze,
and display geographic information.
Software
Data
Hardware
integration of spatial
data and tabular data
(attributes)
computer system
on which a GIS
operates
Methods
People
GIS specialists vs
end users
Source: ESRI
A successful GIS
operates according
to a well-designed
implementation plan
and business rules
GIS COMPONENT (1)
• hardware
– computers to run software
– other related software
• software
– computer program to process data
• custom-written software
• generic programs are more popular
• data
– processed for information retrieval
– most costly compared with hardware and software
– longer life span
– at times, have legal value
GIS COMPONENT (2)
• People/Institution
– individual and organisation that uses or
implements GIS
– critical components - decides the success of
implementation
• need for GIS professional to analyze,
research, design complex GIS systems
• difficult to change humans to adapt with new
technology
– always overlooked
GIS Software functions
Capture
Analyze
Store
Display
Query
Output
GIS SOFTWARE SUBSYSTEM (1)
• data acquisition
– define, entry and preliminary processing data
– digitizer, scanner, survey equipment, etc.
• data management
– control existence, update, recall and deletion of
data
– database management system
GIS SOFTWARE SUBSYSTEM(2)
• analysis of data
– generation of information from data archives
– spatial analysis software
– value of GIS depends on the analytic functions it
provides
• information output
– generated information conveyed to the users
– information managed by computers can be
plotted, printed or exported into other systems.
A Quick look at the cost of GIS
implementation
Some strategies how to implement
gis with little or no cost
• Use freely or opensource softwares – many
available of many kinds
• Use insider talents not money – use talents of
existing staff
• Exchange data with other organisations
• Barter trade – offset cost of data capture with
other equivalent values
– E.g. give resell right to data (at agreed time period)
• Rent instead of purchase
• Provide incentive to staffs – extra leave or
sponsor to family day
Some strategies how to implement
gis with little or no cost…2
• Sell ads space in newsletter to generate
income to cover cost of GIS implementation –
newsletter related to GIS.
• Setup membership site – let say sharing
experience & giving support using opensource
GIS
– Just imagine if you charge RM20/month & have 500
members, total income RM10,000 per month (make
money while you sleep).
How to implement gis with little
or no cost
What is Open Source and How
Does it Work
 Freely available software and source code with limited licensing
restrictions on distribution
 Collaborative, community-based software development process
 Proactively engages software users with software developers
 The Internet provides the backbone for a virtual software
development team
Tpyes of OpenSource GIS
• Software Development
– Desk-top
– Web-based (mapserver)
– Libraries
• Development team
– Individual-based
– Collaborative networks
– Corporation based
Why Opensource GIS?
• The Future of GIS – GIS for ALL & SpatiallyEnabled Society
Why Increasing Interests in OS GIS
(Benefits of the Open Source Model)
 Lower Software Cost - No licensing fees
 Resources are allocated to building applications and enhancing software, not
licensing multiple machines
•
•
Independence from proprietary technology
Security – risks especially sensitive applications such as e-government,
e-procurement
•
Enables development of highly customized applications based on
organisation’s needs – greater control
 Development priorities are driven by end-user needs
 Issues can be resolved in-house
 Vibrant user community – include corporate support
 Standards support – Open GIS Consortium
 Software quality - improved
Examples of OS GIS
Examples of OS GIS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Google Map
Quantum GIS
Open Jump
DIVA GIS
MapWindow
gvSIG
SPRING
GoogleMap
Quantum GIS
OpenJUMP GIS
DIVA-GIS
MapWindow
MapWindow
MapWindow
SPRING
Example
Projects
Thank you for
listening
GIS for Lembah Bujang
Archeological study
• Use GoogleMap & MapServer – for easy access
– Locational data using GPS.
GIS for Secondary
School
• Use MapServer (web-based) & Open Jump
(desktop)
– Case study Form 1 Geography Subject
The uses of OpenJUMP in teaching geography subject to Form 1 students.
Web-based tourist
information system
• Use MapServer – to find shortest distance from
origin to various tourist destinations
Sistem Bantuan Pengurusan
KETENGAH-GIS
( SBPK-GIS )
http://gis.ketengah.gov.my
Courtesy of Spatialworks Sdn Bhd
SBPK-GIS KETENGAH
An online web-GIS application for data sharing
among division in KETENGAH.
Functionalities:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
System Administration and User administration module
Online map navigational Module
Online dynamic Map Feature Search module
Online attribute editing module
Online dynamic map composition and printing module
Online document/photo upload to feature
User access and security control
System log
Online SBPK-GIS: http://gis.ketengah.gov.my
Toggle Button
System Admin.
Zooming tools
Pan
Information
Select Rectangle
Upload
Data
layer list
Query
Ruler
Eraser
Print
ONLINE
Map
Viewing
Online SBPK-GIS
97 layers of topo data
48 layers of as-built plan data
271 layers of scanned images
30 layers of other data layers
Total:
446 data layers in SBPK-GIS
Development of Pilot GIS for the KETARA and Trans Perak Irrigation Scheme
Online Irrigation Schemes
Information System
( OISIS )
http://bpsp.moa.my/website/
http://spatialworks.mine.nu/website/
Courtesy of Spatialworks Sdn Bhd
OISIS System Modules
Scheduling
Monitoring
Maintenance
Benchmarking
GIS
Administrator
• to support irrigation
scheduling
• to measure the
••to
•effectiveness
to
support
support
water
irrigation
ofsupply
spatial
database
•irrigation
to
support
monitoring
infrastructures
against
atsystem
intake
management
of
administration
function
points
paddy
management
and
productivity
water and
level
irrigation
infrastructures
that
include
assigning
maintenance
in the
paddy
field
user ids, passwords,
and their access level
Contoh Sistem Pangkalan Data GIS Berpusat
- Sistem Maklumat Pemetaan & Geospatial (SiMPeG), DBKK
http://spatialworks.mine.nu/dbkk/
Open Source GIS Application for DBKK
Open Source GIS Application for DBKK
Shortest Path Routing Application using Open Source
http://spatialworks.mine.nu/fastroute/
EIA-GIS Web GIS Application (DOE)
Open Source GIS Application for JKNNS
Vehicle Tracking System
Comparison of several
opensource gis softwares
• Task
– Find a suitable site for a new university aquaculture
lab using the following selection criteria:
• Preferred land use is brushland (i.e. locode = 300 in
landuse.shp)
• Choose soil types suitable for development (i.e. suit >=
2 in soils.shp)
• Site must be within 300 meters of sewer lines
– Calculate the total area of the suitable site(s).
Comparison of geoprocessing operations in open source GIS and
Commercial GIS (GIS A).
No Indicators
OpenJump gvSIG
QGIS 1.4.0 QGIS 1.5.0
GIS A
1
Time (minute:second) to 'Create 300m
buffer of sewers.shp'
00:02
00:03
00:01
00:01
00:02
2
Time (minute:second)
soils.shp and landuse.shp'
'Union
00:05
00:06
00:05
00:05
00:03
3
Time (minute:second) to 'Intersect
result of step 1 (buffer) and step 2
(union)'
00:06
00:03
00:03
00:02
00:03
4
Time (minute:second) to 'Dissolve final
selected polygon'
00:01
00:03
00:02
00:01
00:02
5
Number of steps required to complete
the task
8
10
9
9
8
6
Total time (minute:second) to complete
the task
04:09
07:31
05:15
04:04
03:47
7
Total of suitable area (m2)
48158.3
47205.8
47618.2
47618.2
48171.0
to
The Future for Open Source
Technologies
 More accessible Internet
 Adoption of open standards
 Tighter integration among open source technologies
 More demanding applications
 Rapidly maturing and growing user and developer
communities
Summary & Conclusion
• It is possible to start GIS project with little or
no cost if there is willingness to try & change in
mindset.
• One possible approach is to use Opensource
GIS software to minimize software licensing
cost.
• Most OS GIS softwares provide at least the
basic GIS functions – data capture,
management, manipulation, analysis & display
– sufficient to start using GIS – especially for
data input.
Summary & Conclusion
• Increasing availability of Open source GIS will
enable new users to start using GIS for free or
low-cost – suitable for developing countries
– In long-run all interested parties will have access to
GIS and able to optimise the use of digital data –
create spatially-enabled society.
Geoinformation Science in Transforming Education and Research for Sustainable Tomorrow and ‘the
Bottom Billions’
Acknowledgment:
This research partly benefitted from Science Fund
research grant for “The design and development of
Open Source Web-based GIS for promoting spatial
thingking/skills in secondary school education”
sponsored by MOSTI.
Open Source GIS Training
Series
To learn more about Open Source GIS:
• GIS for All – Training on Open Source GIS, 5-7
August at USM – cost only RM600.
• Report – Opensource GIS Softwares: A
Comparative Study (RM50) email:
rruslan@usm.my
Geoinformation Science in Transforming Education and Research for Sustainable Tomorrow and ‘the
Bottom Billions’
Announcement
• New Malaysia GIS Users Community
Forum setup in May 2010.
• Free and independent
• All are invited to join.
• Maintained & supported by Prof. Ruslan
& Opensource GIS Research Group,
USM.
http://gismalaysia.org/forum
Thank you
for you
yourfor
attention
Thank
listening