GIS stands for Geographic Information System.
Historically, GIS software has been aimed at urban planning, logistics, telecommunications, as well as infrastructure and network management.
In recent years, the use cases surrounding geographic information systems have multiplied, reaching new sectors for geo-economic purposes. For instance, the real estate sector and retail businesses find it beneficial to use such technologies to identify good business opportunities. In municipalities, the use of GIS tools goes beyond geomatics to engage elected officials or departments of economic development, or to map the business ecosystem around a city. Technological advancements make GIS software even more necessary with the emergence of connected objects and the progress of artificial intelligence.
Historical Players and the New Generation
1980 – Commercialization of the First GIS Software
The market leader is ESRI with ArcGIS, a historical player founded in 1969. It is now used in most geomatics departments worldwide and by large companies. It has many databases and a comprehensive tool for the most advanced needs.
Another historical player is MapInfo, founded in 1986. With the release of MapInfo Professional, MapInfo targets its GIS software at territorial planners, site analysts, geo-marketing specialists, and analysts of physical and commercial networks.
The 2000s – Improvement of GIS
The early 2000s were marked by the launch of QGIS (Quantum GIS). This is an open-source GIS software. It quickly stands out from previous GIS software due to its free availability, whereas GIS solutions are generally costly.
The 2020s – The New Generation of GIS Software
With the rise of the internet, GIS software has become easier to use. In the early 2010s, Carto was launched with a promise to simplify GIS usage, but acquisition costs remained high.
By the early 2020s, new players emerged. Their promise is to simplify the user experience in processing, analyzing, and visualizing data while also offering affordable prices for small businesses.
In France, for example, Smappen claims to provide a simple usage aimed at retail businesses for their market studies. Another startup operating in Canada and France, Civision, launched its own GIS software, CivGEO. Targeting territorial planners, municipalities, researchers, businesses, marketing, and the real estate sector, Civision goes further by integrating local data analysis directly into its GIS software for its clients, utilizing artificial intelligence to greatly simplify the customer experience.
This new generation offers affordable pricing, and user experience is prioritized to allow both large and small companies to utilize GIS software. For instance, CivGEO provides extensive free use with publicly accessible sociodemographic data, free maps, and an account-free version. Pricing then starts at $50/month.
Why Are GIS Software Difficult to Master?
GIS software is primarily aimed at experts and requires an understanding of the terminology used:
- Layers represent a specific type of data (roads, buildings, rivers). To understand what a layer is, think of a mille-feuille (a type of pastry). The base is the world map. Adding a layer to our map is like adding a filling to our mille-feuille. This layer is a database. We can overlay multiple layers on the map.
- Vectors represent geographic features in the form of points, lines, or polygons (for tracing roads or buildings, for example).
- Raster data are generally images or grids.
- Map projection is a mathematical system that transforms geographic coordinates (latitude, longitude) into coordinates on a map.
- Coordinate systems define how geographic data is placed in space.
- Attributes refer to non-spatial data (city names, population statistics, etc.).
- Different database formats that a user without technical skills might struggle to manage: Shapefile, GeoJSON, etc.
- Etc.
Historical GIS software relies on the user to manage all these skills. With new GIS solutions, the trend is to make GIS software accessible to non-technical users. In this case, the software publisher directly addresses these challenges within their IT service.
Similarly, GIS software often leaves the processing and analysis of data to the users. It is necessary for the end user to be accompanied by a database manager for several reasons:
- To process data and ensure that the provided database is functional.
- To code various analyses. Often, it is required that the technician knows how to code in Python directly within the tool.
- To ensure that the GIS software does not crash due to a massive influx of geospatial data.
Is GIS Software Right for Me If I Lack Technical Skills?
Next-generation GIS software, like CivGEO, is designed for end users who do not have technical skills. Even without a database, they can access quality geolocated data and analyses. They can easily import their databases, which will be processed automatically by artificial intelligence to ensure proper visualization.
However, most GIS solutions are still not adapted for non-technical users, even if they claim to be. For the more well-known options, users can avoid an initial invoice by checking product reviews on comparison sites like Capterra, for instance.
How to Choose Your GIS Software in 2024?
The sale of GIS software (for Geographic Information System or GIS in English) has seen significant growth over the past few years, and the number of use cases is also increasing: disaster prevention and management, resource optimization, public service optimization, etc.
A second reason for this growth is the acceleration of data openness by large companies and public administrations. GIS software is at the forefront of visualizing this data: demographics, geolocation of businesses, property assessments, etc.
The third reason is technological advancements with the development of artificial intelligence, which aids in analyzing geographic data, especially with the development of connected objects (IoT).
This is why historical players like ArcGIS or MapInfo are seeing their competitors multiply. It is therefore an opportunity to compare these different GIS software, understand each one’s specialty, and especially know which one is best suited to the users’ needs.
ArcGIS – The Historical Player
ArcGIS is often the tool used by large companies and the geomatics departments of municipalities. Its wide range of data and features is appreciated by users.
However, it is often criticized for its significant cost and the complexity of its tool. The tool’s design is basic, and users can quickly get lost among the numerous features.
Therefore, it is generally recommended to have an advanced level of proficiency to use ArcGIS and to have a validated budget beforehand.
QGIS – The Open Source Solution
QGIS (or Quantum GIS) is the opposite of ArcGIS, an open-source solution aimed at enthusiasts. Open source means it is also free. It is also appreciated for being connectable with other applications, complementing its tool.
The disadvantage of QGIS partly mirrors that of ArcGIS, with an interface that is not user-friendly. It is also criticized for a lack of functionality and is not suitable for large projects.
It is therefore recommended to have prior skills, and this solution will be yours if your project is in its early stages.
Mapbox – The GIS Software for Developers
MapBox offers visually appealing mapping support (in other words, its world map looks good). It also offers a large free version and interesting features like isochrone mapping (looking at the distance between two points based on time rather than distance), address geolocation, or 3D building visualization. For the development of our solution, we are, for example, supported by Mapbox maps.
However, it primarily targets developers and data scientists who want to perform business intelligence. If you want to analyze your data and visualize it without knowing how to code, using Mapbox may not be particularly useful.
CivGEO – The Geo-Economic GIS Software for Everyone
Civision has developed CivGEO. Its cartographic base is created by Mapbox. CivGEO provides access to over 100 demographic, economic, and real estate databases with high geographical precision (within a 1 km radius) and analyses performed by AI. CivGEO also allows users to directly integrate their databases. This GIS software stands out for its ease of use, integrating GenAI, and its affordable price (the paid version starts at $50/month).
Its disadvantage is that CivGEO does not allow a user with advanced technical skills to code directly within the application or access advanced features.
CivGEO is therefore more suitable for users with little or no IT skills. It is well-suited for small to medium-sized teams in the real estate, marketing, retail, or municipal sectors.