GIS technology of the future – Bolt

Systems Manager at Globe Insurance Company of Jamaica, Maurice Bolt, is touting Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as the technology of the future due to its ability to capture, analyse and manage data spatially to inform decision making.
He said the technology is applicable to every industry. “GIS is a powerful business intelligence tool. We believe that this technology is the way of the future and has immense potential. I truly believe that this technology has benefits, not just for insurance and government, but for just about any industry,” Mr. Bolt stated, as he delivered the keynote address at a GIS Business Executive Forum on November 10 at the Altamont Court Hotel in Kingston.
The Systems Manager noted that GIS is already being utilised in mapping natural resources and has been applied in business, management, public health, urban planning, agriculture and tourism.

Senior Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Trainer/Manager at the National Spatial Data Division, Office of the Prime Minister, Simone Lloyd, makes a presentation to Systems Manager, Globe Insurance Company of Jamaica, Maurice Bolt, after his keynote address at the GIS Business Executive Forum held November 10 at the Altamont Court Hotel in Kingston. Sharing the moment in background is National GIS Coordinator, OPM, Cecille Blake. The event was held under the theme: ‘Seeing the ‘S’ in GIS: Sharing, Solving, Sustaining’.

“But, it requires thinking also outside the box and the question is, are you willing to take on the challenge to place your company on the cutting edge of technology?” he asked.
The fourth annual GIS forum was organised by the National Spatial Data Division in the Office of the Prime Minister under the theme: ‘Seeing the ‘S’ in GIS: Sharing, Solving, Sustaining’.
National GIS Coordinator, Cecille Blake, said that the annual forum aims to sensitise the public about the importance of GIS technology.
“We thought it was important to have an annual event to try to sensitise other members outside of the GIS fraternity of what GIS is all about and to also learn something new in an ever changing and evolving area of discipline in the spatial sciences,” Miss Blake said.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Manager, National Works Agency (NWA), Alicia Gayle, makes a presentation at the (GIS) Business Executive Forum held November 10 at the Altamont Court Hotel in Kingston. The event was organised by the National Spatial Data Division in the Office of the Prime Minister under the theme: ‘Seeing the ‘S’ in GIS: Sharing, Solving, Sustaining’.

She noted that GIS technology allows for persons or organisations to “collect, analyse, manage and share information to support decision making.”
Some of the topics discussed at the forum include: GIS on Blackberry; the new age of GIS: doing more with less; GIS and the national plan and GIS for traffic management.
GIS is a set of tools that captures, stores, analyses, manages, and presents data that are linked to location(s). In the simplest terms, GIS is the merging of cartography, statistical analysis, and database technology.
GIS may be used in geography, cartography, remote sensing, land surveying, public utility management, natural resource management, precision agriculture, photogrammetry, urban planning, emergency management, navigation, aerial video, and localised search engines.