The Information Technology Services (ITS) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) facility of the University of Cape Town has updated to the current ArcInfo and ArcView product line to cope with increased desktop-user demand.

Nicholas Lindenberg, GIS Consultant, Personal Computing and IT Services at the UCT, explains that the high cost of GIS software and hardware has meant that most departments would never be able to afford their own laboratories or to maintain a GIS post. The ITS GIS laboratory was therefore created in 1990 to provide a centralised GIS facility to post-graduates and staff of the University of Cape Town. At the laboratory, the university can provide basic training in, and access to, ESRI's GIS software on its own PCs, as well as a consulting service to staff or students who want to tackle their own GIS projects. "I am happy to report that demand for all three aspects of the laboratory has been geometrically increasing," says Lindenberg.

Lindenberg appreciates the updated interfaces and bug-fixes on the existing products. "The improved ease-of-use of the ArcView line is great in attracting staff and students from outside the normal range of the map-making sciences. The newer extensions allow our students and staff to tackle projects that would never have been considered before, due to resource limitations. This, essentially, is what a university should be doing," he adds.

The new software will be applied at the university on a variety of projects ranging from general mapping to advanced 3D modelling and visualisation. Lindenberg says the newer hardware has increased ease of use. "This, combined with increased awareness of what GIS can offer, draws more staff and students from various faculties to make use of the laboratory," says Lindenberg.

The ITS GIS department was founded with ESRI software, namely PC Arc/INFO. "Before that, the GIS unit of the Department of Surveying was using SICAD. It had some similarities to Arc/INFO in that it was command-line but used German abbreviations for the commands. Needless to say, this limited its appeal at the university," concludes Lindenberg.

Geographic Information Management Systems (GIMS) is currently the sole supplier to the UCT.

GIMS

(011) 315 0390

sales@gims.com