THE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM AS A TOOL FOR DECISION MAKING IN THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT TO LOCAL DISASTER PREVENTION

Paper number

IAC-15,E5,IP,5,x28797

Author

Prof. Javier Alfredo Valdiviezo Ortiz, Universidad del Azuay, Ecuador

Year

2015

Abstract

THE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM AS A DECISION MAKING TOOL IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT FOR LOCAL DISASTER PREVENTION A global methodology that links population and environment: FROM DATA TO INFORMATION: In our
nation,under a geographical context as a whole, statistics cannot be considered totally valid, they tend to
lose their representation since local areas in Ecuador have dramatic dierences and particularities which
are left out when compiling data to get to the general and nal information and results. Not just what is
perceived with our senses and strike us is information, such as sounds, words, images, phenomena, etc.
Only when these phenomena that strike us are interpreted statistically we could talk about their real
meaning in terms of information data, whatever phenomena transformed into data therefore it becomes
the holder and not the factor. The needs to raise local information from the global data source current
in our national territory are due to the limited statistical procedures and methods we use. Our methods
are of great utility when designing general social policies, they determinate the country’s position into
an international or global context. They are also good for local diagnosis looking at data generally and
vertically. The local limitation for us is the result of a very weak capability from local governments.The
technicians that some municipalities hire to interpret and analyze data have not been successful. BUILDING
INFORMATION FROM DATA The dierence between data and information Very often, we use the
terms data and information interchangeably, however they have a very dierent meaning if we look at them
from the IT perspective. Thus, it is critical to make a clear and marked dierence between these two concepts
because we can say that a computer stores ”data” and if properly used it can give us ”information.”
The data becomes information only when it is processed (by a computer) and interpreted (by the user).
There are very few cases when the information does not require a computerized process, only requires
interpretation. Failure on proper dierentiation between these two concepts can cause manyproblems. It
is often thought that the more information we collect the more data we get, which is not always true,
because what we get is like the evil of the ancient library of Alexandria.

Abstract document

IAC-15,E5,IP,5,x28797.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

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