They then lay out the design on top of the sketch. Thanks to a convergence of powerful, inexpensive hardware, standardized communication protocols and innovative software, users are looking at ways to deploy their GIS functionality in the field. It's a notion that probably started from the first conceptual discussions about what GIS should be, how it should work and what it should be able to do. But it has taken a lot of work to put all the technology pieces together. Leading the mobile GIS movement are utility, transportation and telecommunication companies. . .
Developers anticipate the opening of new markets to meet compelling and vastly unmet needs.
After all, creating, managing and maintaining large-scale infrastructure networks is primarily an outdoor job. Utilities intrinsically want to extend to their field crews the process efficiencies they've gained in the office. . . Applications must be more task-specific, simple to operate and built to eliminate potential errors. After all, the objective of mobile computing is to improve field productivity, not displace current work with computer tasks. . . Innovation has come predominantly from smaller companies . . . including Dallas-based MapFrame. . .