Please see Peter Dickinson’s comments on our “Why GIS?” page.
From Sean Grimland, Winrock International:
For Winrock International, GIS accentuates each stage of a development project by focusing proposals, focusing project resources, tracking progress, and analyses of results. GIS can quickly convey information on a project, i.e. if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a map is worth at least 10,000.
From Fran Boon, Oxfam:
Q: Why does your organization need Maps 2.0?
A: Maps 2.0 will help to clarify the selection of which GIS tools are most suited to humanitarian work. It should help to build a community of practitioners who can share current experiences & facilitate collaboration to develop the tools into a coherent, interoperable GIS infrastructure.
Q: Describe an opportunity to use GIS to benefit humanitarian/nonprofit
projects.
A: GIS allows decision-makers to view data in ways that are easier to understand so that they can target interventions to the most needy areas. A coherent, interoperable GIS infrastructure helps all agencies to share data & help coordination of who is working where.
Q: Do you have a good success story?
In Indonesia, Oxfam’s GIS officer is using data from BAKOSURTANAL (Indonesian Board for survey and mapping), which enables interoperability with other in-country agencies such as BPS (Bureau of Population Statistics). This data has been used to do risk assessment planning, water system route planning & evacuation route planning.
