The new system, called Guardacostas Pro, uses a combination of satellite imaging and signal processing to monitor vessels for illegal activities such as drug smuggling and fish poaching in the coastal waters of Argentina’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
As Argentina’s coast guard, Prefectura Naval deploys patrol vessels, helicopters and airplane spotters to protect its economic interests and to guard against the decline of its fishery.
This year, the Guardacostas Pro system allowed Prefectura Naval to track a Spanish vessel that entered the EEZ and attempted to return to international waters. The coast guard was able to catch the ship, which had poached roughly $380,000 worth of fish; escort it back to port; impound it; and fine the crew.
The captain had little ground to refute the charges because the coast guard had the data to prove the illegal activity.
“As of five years ago, we had very little information about the use of our seas,” said Ernesto Miguel Klocker, Prefectura Naval director of informatics and communications. “Now we have a good picture, which gives us electronic control of the sea, allowing us to send our air and naval units directly to the places where ships operate.”
Until recently, its primary enforcement tool was constant patrolling and investigation of all ships. Now Guardacostas Pro monitors signals that every vessel transmits to avoid collision and to provide data on vessel type, speed, and location. It combines this with satellite imaging and Esri’s spatial analytics capabilities to give coast guard personnel real-time alerts when a vessel is entering their waters.
“Prefectura Naval is setting a truly cutting-edge example of a forward-thinking organization,” said Dean Angelides, Esri head of international alliances and partners. “The best way to effectively enforce laws over such a large scale as the EEZ is to know exactly where things are happening and when, and Argentina is now leading the way in data-driven public safety.”
After being successfully proven at sea, the Guardacostas Pro system has been moved ashore and is now a multiagency tool to aid Argentina’s Ministry of Security’s homeland security mission. The Ministry of Security will use the system to track and locate its operative units through mobile phones, radio equipment, vehicles with location sensors, and search and rescue aircraft.
GIS specialists are much more than mapmakers. Make sure your organization and customers understand how spatial analytics can help them succeed.
By Adam Carnow
Most non-GIS users hear the term “G-I-S” and think “M-A-P.” That is, they think of GIS, and GIS practitioners, as mapmakers. Most GIS practitioners have unknowingly perpetuated this image. Ask any GIS practitioner what they do for a living and most will say, “I make maps;” however, the reality is that what they do for a living is help people make better decisions through the power of location. This is what I call location intelligence.
There is a tremendous growth opportunity for GIS in government across the enterprise. GIS was created to perform spatial analysis. GIS can often be underutilized because non-GIS users sometimes don’t understand the reach of spatial analysis and how it can help them. GIS practitioners need to market and evangelize the power of spatial analysis to help change that image.
Photo: rmnoa357/Shutterstock.com
You can break down location intelligence into six categories. As you move down this list, the value of the location intelligence increases:
Understanding Where. A map (could be paper or PDF, but should be an interactive web map) showing where the fire stations are located across a city.
Measuring Size, Shape and Distribution. A map showing the size, shape and distribution of wetlands across an area would help with wetland protection and preservation.
Determining How Places Are Related. Showing how certain soil types correspond to flood zones.
Finding the Best Locations and Paths
To find the best location for a new fire station, run a drive-time polygon process to show the coverage area for each fire station. The areas that are uncovered are where a new fire station is needed.
To find the best path for field inspectors: We have 50 inspections to do today and three inspectors. Divide the inspection locations among each inspector and create the most efficient route to get their work done.
Detecting and Quantifying Patterns. Crime analysts look at crime data to try to predict where the next one may occur and to help identify known perpetrators. (See also An inside look at fighting crime with GIS.)
Making Predictions. Modeling a watershed can allow for flood predictions based on anticipated rainfall.
Another way to help break the mapmaker image is to rebrand. Most staff in any organization use spreadsheets daily for a multitude of things that bring value to the organization – some say it’s the number one business intelligence (BI) tool.
There are GIS software tools that are as easy to use as a spreadsheet; in fact, you can use GIS inside of spreadsheets.
Wetlands map, Oregon’s Klamath Lake. (Map: USGS)
Even though spreadsheets are such a useful tool, you don’t see a Spreadsheet Department. Spreadsheet is just the name of the tool, so you don’t have, or name, a department for it. A department should be named based on the function, or value, it serves.
GIS should be thought of as BI with location data and spatial analysis, or location intelligence. A great way to get people to understand the real value and power of GIS is to rebrand your GIS department to something like Enterprise Location Intelligence.
One such example of this is Walgreens. As the drugstore chain’s GIS department became more strategic and tied to the analytics of the organization, the company rebranded it as Enterprise Location Intelligence.
If your organization has a BI group, they should consider reorganizing to put GIS with that BI group. I’m seeing real-world examples of this rebrand:
GIS job title changes to things like:
Data Analytics Manager
Content Delivery Manager
Business and Location Intelligence Manager
Reorganization putting GIS with BI: A major city has a Smart City initiative, and in response the city has reorganized its IT group — they now have a Data Analytics Group that consists of a BI team and their GIS team.
This rebrand, and expansion of the understanding of the true purpose and value of GIS, will not just help the organization realize more return on investment (ROI) for their GIS investment, it will help the GIS practitioners elevate their value to the organization and hence their careers.
What can you do? If you’re a GIS practitioner:
Explore rebranding your title and your GIS group as a start to changing your image from mapmaker to solution provider.
Evangelize the power of location intelligence. This is actually pretty easy to do. When someone asks for a map, ask them why they need it, probe to find out more about their project; you will probably uncover a need for spatial analysis.
Start to enable others in your organization to become GIS users via easy-to-use web maps and apps. As they use GIS, they will realize its full potential and seek to utilize it more often.
If you’re not a GIS practitioner, seek out your GIS team to learn more about their capabilities and how they can help you. And, become a GIS user, there are plenty of GIS tools available that are easy to learn and use.
This article originally appeared on Govloop.com and is reprinted with permission.
Adam Carnow is an Esri community evangelist and part of the GovLoop Featured Contributor program.
Esri will be hosting the 21st annual Esri Federal GIS (FedGIS) Conference March 20-21 at the Walter E. Washington Center in Washington, D.C. All federal government agency workers are invited to join an anticipated audience of 3,000 attendees and share their experience in collaborating, innovating and connecting their work using spatial analytics technology.
Esri founder and president Jack Dangermond will discuss how location intelligence can be used to derive a deeper understanding of complex issues through data, as well as how it enables collaboration to develop innovative solutions for government.
He will be joined on the main stage by representatives from several leading organizations, including the following:
U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) — “Protecting Plants and Animals to Feed Our Country and the World”
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General — “Fighting Fraud, Waste, and Abuse through Spatial Analytics”
American Red Cross — “Connecting and Helping Volunteers, Partners, and Citizens in Need”
On Wednesday, March 21, Dangermond will lead a thought-provoking conversation with the Honorable Susan M. Gordon, principal deputy director of National Intelligence at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on the importance of connecting intelligence agencies through spatial analytics.
“It is always inspirational to attend this conference and hear how location intelligence has helped federal workers share information across agencies and connect to citizens,” said Jeff Peters, head of the national government sector at Esri. “Attendees will get a chance to hear directly from top government and technology leaders as they share their experiences collaborating, innovating, and connecting using spatial analytics.”
The conference is the site for announcements about the innovative use of Esri’s ArcGIS platform in federal, state and local government. The latest enhancements to ArcGIS and ArcGIS Pro, along with updates on desktop and enterprise mobile app environments, will be shared.
Other organizations will be providing use cases and best practices during workshops throughout the two days of the conference. Learn more at esri.com/events/federal.
