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Why Should We Use Gis? Essay

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Why use GIS? Introduction The importance of location has been vital for people ever since the earliest civilisations; hunters and gatherers identified ideal locations for growing crops, later civilisations became territorial and selecting ideal settlement location based on a range of factors occurred. During the eighteenth century, European countries realised the importance of a nationwide, comprehensive mapping system of their land(Burrough et al., 2015). Alongside the advancement of technology GIS (Geographic Information Systems) has since developed. GIS is a software that can collect, store, analyse, and display geospatial data for a set purpose(Burrough et al., 2015). GIS can be used to display, understand, and visualise patterns and relationships in data(National Geographic, 2011). The use of GIS has become ever more widespread over time and can now be used universally; it is not limited by industry and has software that is available and valuable to all. The system is used by private, public and voluntary sectors for a wide variety of applications. Private Sector-Location Analytics In the business industry GIS is used for a wide variety of industry streams, it can be used to calculate risks for insurance purposes, create models of virtual gaming worlds, and locate ideal retail site location. Finding the most suitable retail site is vital for the success of any business as site is the most permanent factor of any business and difficult to change(Li, 2014).

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