GIS was once a technology used only by those with the deepest pockets. Today things have begun to change. In this post we will discuss 3 reasons GIS is now more affordable, for big and small organization alike.
Mobile GIS & LBS
Archive for the ‘ArcGIS Online’ Category
3 Reasons GIS Is Now More Affordable
Tuesday, November 26th, 2013Mobile iOS and Android App for Location Selection
Monday, November 25th, 2013Our development team really like the GeoEnrichment service from Esri. We’ve been working with this service for some time and see some key commercial areas of application. In a previous blog we mentioned a mobile app we were building as a demo. Our focus was using GIS on your mobile for location selection. The development effort was largely driven by requests we have received from a number of retail organizations looking to improve how they assess potential locations for new stores. Moving forward we see this as an important area in our commercial GIS development division.
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Mobile Site Selection GIS using ArcGIS Online
Friday, November 22nd, 2013The possibilities presented by mobile technology and GIS is only just beginning to truly be realised. As a company we have been actively developing Android and Apple mobile GIS apps for over 2 years. We are ever more excited about how we can now apply GIS in the field. One new release from Esri which really caught our attention was the GeoEnrichment service. Below is an iPad demo of site selection analysis using ArcGIS Online, and this new service.
5 Reflections on the South West User Conference
Tuesday, November 19th, 2013With this years conference now over, I thought it worth listing my 5 reflections on the South West User Conference (SWUC) held last week in Salt Lake City. The conference was a great success. WebMapSolutions was one of the sponsors of the event, along with a number of other local GIS focused companies including Gateway Computing and CityWorks. We took an informal survey of SWUC attendees.The results we thought were surprising. Below we reflect in our overall thoughts on the conference. (more…)
Very Interesting Survey on ArcGIS Online
Monday, November 18th, 2013Last week we were one of the sponsors of the excellent South West Users Conference (SWUC), here in Salt Lake City. One of our activities at the conference was to conduct an informal attendee poll. Nearly one third of attendees responded. It proved to be a very interesting survey on ArcGIS Online. We asked 4 simple questions; the results are below: (more…)
Offline ArcGIS Editing on an iPhone Cannot be Done Right?
Wednesday, November 6th, 2013
Instead of asking:
Offline ArcGIS editing on an iPhone cannot be done right?
We could just as easily have asked if offline editing can be done period!
At WebMapSolutions we have been building an offline ArcGIS Online editing solution. Offline is complex; the process involves reading and writing data to/from the mobile device, then syncing with ArcGIS Online. But there is a huge need for such a mobile app, given such spotty Wi-Fi coverage in so many areas.
This initial version is targeted at iPad and Android tablets. We’ve made it affordable to both large and small organizations. The mobile app was launched in September to the Esri Marketplace, and has proven very popular. (more…)
Citizen Engagement Apps Made Easy
Monday, November 4th, 2013Collecting feedback from citizens has always been a challenge for local government. Pot holes, graffiti, localised flooding, blocked roads are all citizen and local government concerns. But having a simple system in place which is easy for citizens to use, and local governments to view and act upon, has proven difficult and expensive. We have all done it, wanted to report an issue of concern. Usually we would phone the city office, be passed between departments and finally our concern noted by a staff member. And that was that; no feedback mechanism for citizens – the issue is in our system and will be fixed tomorrow – and no way for city staff to centrally log the issue.
Sure, there are systems in place which provide this mechanism, but they are often very expensive. That is not the case any more. New technology means citizen engagement apps are now easy to develop. Thus the title of this post ‘Citizen Engagement Apps Made Easy’. Here we will discuss new approaches to engaging with citizens using location technology. (more…)
Share your Travel Photos with GIS
Friday, November 1st, 2013
I’ve just returned from a trip to China. Part business part pleasure. Having a smartphone ensured I took plenty of photos and video. I’ve been asked a number of times since my return to ‘send some photos’. It made me wonder: is there a way to share your travel photos with GIS?
Share your Travel Photos with GIS
Esri have recently introduced the notion of storymaps; these are application templates which can be easily extended and customized. These templates are responsive meaning they look good on phones, tablets and PC’s. One template in particular caught my attention. It seemed perfect for sharing both the photos and the story of my trip. The results I will show at the end of this post, but they far exceeded my expectations. Let me walk through the process of setting up the application: (more…)
Searching for Low Cost GIS Data Collection Solutions?
Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013We are often approached by new clients who are searching for low cost GIS data collection solutions. It was once the case that data collection:
1) Required specialized, expensive equipment
2) Needed GIS trained staff
3) Cost a small fortune
4) Was often delivered in varying formats or required additional work to make use-able.
Thankfully those days are now gone – though you will still find some (expensive providers) trying to pursued you otherwise. So what has changed? (more…)
