- It can be surprisingly cheap; very expensive equipment and highly specialized technicians can be avoided by proper selection of a system and its application. The main constraint may not be lack of funds but lack of appropriate personnel and equipment;
- It can multiply the productivity of a technician; and
- It can give higher quality results than can be obtained manually, regardless of the costs involved. It can facilitate decision-making and improve coordination among agencies when efficiency is at a premium.
On the assumption that some readers are unfamiliar with GIS, the chapter first reviews some basic concepts covering the operations, functions, and elements of a system. Next come a number of examples of applications for natural hazard management at the national, subnational, and local levels, to help the reader evaluate the benefits and limitations of a GIS. A three-step process is presented for reaching the decision to acquire or upgrade GIS capability: (1) a needs assessment, determining the agency's GIS applications and objectives and those of possible joint users; (2) analysis of the costs and benefits of the acquisition; (3) brief guidelines for the selection of appropriate hardware and software combinations. The chapter ends with a short discussion of how to set up a system.
The chapter does not attempt to replace the many technical manuals on how to select and operate a GIS. Once the agency has decided to consider the acquisition of a system, it will require more specific guidance in the form of supplementary literature and/or technical assistance.