Objective 3:
Learn how Geographic Information Systems enhance the products Delta Development creates.
Resources/Activities:
1. Research how GIS is key in today’s society. Look up successful GIS applications and what they are used for.
2. Use the applications themselves, get a hands on feel, in order to understand why they are critical in today’s society.
3. Study under a senior associate that is an expert in GIS to find out what options are available with these systems.
Evaluation/Verification:
1. Work done with GIS, any testing or work I do on the system.
2. Reflective commentary or summary of what experience I have gained.
Reflective Commentary
In my third and last learning objective I set out to learn how Geographic Information Systems enhance the products Delta Development Group creates. In accomplishing this objective I have learned that some applications couldn’t work if they did not include a geographic information system, or at least would not have any sell factor to them. This taught me that when you have an application that involves locations, it is almost critical to have a GIS in the application for visual view. There are two main applications that Delta Development Group uses geographic information systems for: their Special Needs Registry, and their County Re-Development applications. In the Special Needs Registry they use GIS to see if anyone in a disaster affected area needs to be evacuated. In the County Re-Development GIS lets you see plots of land that can be re-developed on a map. Looking at these applications of GIS shows that it provides great detail with location and physical land barriers. Also, the user of a GIS can see alternative routes to a place in case the main route is blocked by a disaster of some sort. This objective has taught me many ways a GIS can be used and what the advantages of having one are.
While working with GIS I have come to see how these systems are implemented into products to enhance the products effect on the customer or client. I have been inputting data for the County Re-Development product and this allows me to see just how a GIS is used. A location is given a Geo-code which consists of longitude and latitude. The GIS uses this Geo-code and places the point on a map so you can see it compared to other points. This allows the user to further their knowledge of the area in which the location is.
Geographic information systems are something that I never thought I would be working with. The GIS that are implemented in Delta Development Group’s products play a huge role in their sale and operation value. This has shown me how valuable GIS is to a product. I believe now that geographic information systems are crucial to the IT field of disaster planning because it gives an overview of the area that is being affected.
This objective now has made me think of where I want to expand my skills to in my future at college and the work force. Geographic information systems have big implications for me because I know want to purse the skill set that allows me to utilize these systems, so in the future I could be working with these systems a lot. In order to grow in the understanding of GIS I am planning on taking a class on them to see if this is really where I want to take my career; also, getting another internship in the IT field that deals with GIS is something I am interested in.
