Reliance on GIS specialists

Non-GIS skilled staff in government departments have had to rely on GIS Specialists to perform their map queries and publication of maps or associated tasks. However, this often results in bottlenecks and backlogs as the GIS Specialists have a heavy workload. The challenge that non-GIS staff constantly face is how to ensure that important reports and other information, often requested urgently by senior government officials and ministers, can be quickly produced.

PlanGIS solution

Dialog developed PlanGIS as a solution for the Victorian state government to resolve this problem. PlanGIS is a simple and lightweight Geographic Information System (GIS) that enables analysts and non-GIS personnel quickly and easily to:

• Publish and browse maps
• Perform map related operations to capture and display map data
• Generate documents and reports.

PlanGIS displays both vector and raster map layers with metadata on top of MS Bing and Google Maps, allowing staff to set up and configure simple maps. It is easily accessible without the need to install additional software and provides access to common data sources such as Victorian Spatial Data Library (VSDL) through any common web browser.

Using the PlanGIS application, users without any spatial background can perform basic analysis and reporting scenarios without the need for any additional licensed software.

Open Source

PlanGIS uses an Open Source approach to provide a flexible, scalable, automated and robust solution to allow a user to view map layers online, query map data, create maps and build (map centred) reports. The application architecture conforms to the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Architecture standards.