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GIS developers foray into social apps
Last Updated(Beijing Time):2012-04-23 14:13

By Xu Hong


On the large screen, there appears Pangu Plaza, the Water Cubic, and the Bird Nest. Following the camera, the viewers travel through the venues, and the dynamic 3-D image makes people feel as if they are actually in the scene. Through stacked image layers, the 3D underground space around the Bird Nest is shown. Crisscrossed underground pipes are seen clearly. This is the experience site of 2D and 3D integrated geographical information system (GIS) opened by Beijing SuperMap Software Company Limited recently.

 


Technicians on the site told the reporter that through vector data analysis on 2D level, this technology can also be used to conduct pipelines check and calculation, such as the direction of the pipes, types of the pipes, and what pipes need to be replaced. Presently, 2D and 3D integration technology has been extensively used in numerous areas, including city management, weather service, and logistics and distribution.


Through continuous innovation and development, China's self-developed GIS software has been developing rapidly, with its application fields shifting from governmental and industrial application to societal application.


China's GIS was developed from scratch. From dependence on import to independent innovation, China's GIS has been taken up more shares in the market after 20 year's development. Wang Kanghong, vice president of SuperMap Software, said that as of the end of last year, the market share of China-based platform software has exceeded that of foreign competitors, breaking the dominance of foreign software.


The GIS industry involves national security; therefore, its independent innovation ability must be further enhanced. From GIS base platform software to series software, new Chinese GIS software products keep turning up. SuperMap, Geo Star, Zondy Cyber, and other domestic software have walked out of China and taken up a foothold in international markets. 


Wu Xincai, renowned Chinese GIS software expert who was awarded China Software Ten-Year Achievement Prize in 2011 and Chairman of the Board of Zondy Cyber, believes that China's software industry still needs to enhance its independent innovation, seize the commanding point of the software industry, and build up software brands that belong to the Chinese.


Experts have predicted before that GIS software production could be like conventional industrial production, using standardized parts, inserting into or pulling out of the system freely, and thus achieve high-quality and high-efficiency GIS software development and make populous application possible.


Nowadays, such envision has been outperformed. For instance, the 3D modeling procedure of 3D mapping technology that is extensively adopted by GIS industry used to be complicated and involve enormous workload. Now, however, adopting integrated module method, the operation is simple and the cost low. With one screw, one rail, and one pipeline, visualized operation can be conducted by dragging the mouse. If this new technology is used to establish the 3D map of Beijing's urban area, it would be fast and effective, greatly promoting the popularized application of personal navigation, location search, and other services.


In terms of industrial application, such GIS as the National Water Conservancy Sharing Platform, the National Weather Warning, and the "one map" of National Resources, are all domestic software at work. Besides, the presence of domestic GIS software can also be found in many Chinese IT enterprises, including ZTE, Inspur, and Neusoft. According to Wang Kanghong, IT enterprises are turning to comprehensive information service, which means that every product line needs GIS, which in turn brings new development opportunities for GIS software enterprises. It is a development shortcut. 


Cloud computing, which dominants the IT industry nowadays, is also beginning to penetrate the GIS software industry. It may well be said that the cloud brings new profit models to the GIS industry. Through cloud platforms, enormous amount of geographical information data that are scattered all over the places will no longer be isolated from one another; through cloud service, large amount of geographical information data will be put into use.  


For instance, the data distribution Map World, a service of the national geographical information website http://www.tianditu.cn will be achieved through cloud GIS; for application enterprises, they also prefer this kind of low-cost online service. Wang Kanghong did the math for the reporter: if an enterprise wants to establish a customer service system that covers the whole country, the cost of the entire system would be around RMB4 million Yuan at current market price. Now, with cloud service platforms, everyone can preset their common demands and put them on the cloud, and services can be called by means online renting.


Looking forwards, with the innovative development of China's GIS software, its application scope will be more extensive. No matter whether it is governmental application, industrial application, or societal application, everybody will be able to enjoy the convenience brought by GIS service. 

Source:CE.cn 
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