Delhi will employ the technology to manage Commonwealth Games, keep track of athletes
YOU visit a new city and find yourself lost. You switch on the navigation tool on your cellphone to locate where you are on a map. You go out on a long drive and find yourself stuck in a huge traffic jam. The navigation device in the car immediately charts out alternate routes for you.
Most probably you think Global Positioning System (GPS) was behind the applications that you used. Well, the GPS did play its part, but the core technology was GIS or the Geographic Information System.

So, what is GIS? Technically speaking, it is the representation and analysis of features on the earth’s surface in a computerised format, much like what cartographers did hundreds of years ago. In simpler terms, GPS only provides the coordinates, latitudes and longitudes of any given location. GIS juxtaposes this data on a map and makes it useable. Google Earth, or for that matter all computerised maps, like MapmyIndia, are based on GIS, which creates these virtual maps using data from aerial and land surveys merged with satellite imagery.

The technology is widely used in defence and internal security. In fact, future wars will be fought on virtual battlefields where field commanders will try out their strategies and monitor the action live.
The technology will also be crucial in disaster management. While meteorological satellites only provide information about impending disasters, GIS will help researchers understand the extent of damage, showing how natural features have been altered by an earthquake or tsunami.

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