GIS & Open Source

What is GIS ?

Geographic Information System (GIS) technology has been developing steadily since the 1960s. It's a technological tool for comprehending geography and making intelligent decisions. GIS gives any organisation the ability to go beyond standard data analysis with tools to integrate, view and analyse data using geography. This growing popularity of GIS application is largely a response to versatility of the technology. Here is some examples of GIS application : 

- Land Management/Conservation

- Resource Management

- Emergency Services/Disaster Response

- Medical/Health

- Public Interest

- Transportation

- Commercial/Private Sector

- Municipal/Local government

Today GIS technology is widely accepted as both a modelling and decision support tool by local governments. Supporters believe that GIS technology can enhance analytical capabili-ties, produce information with “added value”, and generate the implications of a large number of alternatives quickly. Consequently, GIS technology is seen as helping to facilitate planning and to enhance the decision-making process. In Tunisia today we need to start the application of GIS technology. 

What is Open Source ?

Open source software is software that can be freely used, changed, and shared (in modified or unmodified form) by anyone. Open source software is made by many people, and distributed under licenses that comply with the Open Source Definition. This little introduction is picked from the The Open Source Initiative.

The Open Source model harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency to create high-quality, secure and easily integrated software at an accelerated pace and lower cost. Primary benefits of open source software are: Choice, Reliability, Security and Fast deployment.

GIS and Open Source

The development of open source GIS software has—in terms of software history—a long tradition with the appearance of a first system in 1978. Numerous systems are available which cover all sectors of geospatial data handling. Many Open Source solutions have been developed for GIS like desktop application (QGIS, GRASS GIS ...), web map servers (Geoserver, Mapnik, mapserver) and databases (MySQL, DB2, PostGIS).