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 What technical systems are already in use across USAF installations? This is a great question that has never been adequately answered with any high level of confidence. This was also the case in 1992 when Lt. Col. Cullis sought to identify all GIS programs on defense installations. There still exists no oversight process for managing the USAF investment in geospatial IT. Not to say there haven't been attempts, though. Unfortunately, these efforts fell victim to a number of factors that have frustrated such surveys across DOD; 1) there can be multiple organizations within a military 'city' or installation simultaneously using geospatial technology, so survey results usually miss the mark by understating the redundancy of mapping efforts; 2) when these surveys do make it to an individual, rarely does one person have all the necessary answers since an information system has many attributes ranging from cumulative implementation costs to specific data formats employed to hardware components and extent of system use; 3) frequently the questions are too vague and are thus misinterpreted by the respondents; and 4) most surveys have been too long with little motivation for potential respondents to reply. These factors contributed to a response rate of less than 20% during a recent assessment of geospatial IT use on USAF installations. But think for a moment of the value of a cross-functional geospatial IT inventory encompassing every wing and MAJCOM. It certainly would go far in assisting senior Air Force and MAJCOM leaders in making more informed policy to improve their respective information environments. But beware of the grand assumption that has haunted all IT diffusion studies for the past fifty years. Acquisition of a technology does not necessarily imply successful long-term use of the technology. It would be much more valuable to know which of the systems are being successfully employed for their desired purpose. Furthermore, a vital fact to remember is that the actual hardware and software used to support an organization's geospatial information solution has rarely comprised more than 25% of the total investment. The database should be of greater concern since this is where the lion's share of the USAF dollars are invested. If the USAF were to acquire knowledge of the scope of geospatial IT and database investments, we certainly could better plan and executive an enterprise strategy for moving forward with a single geospatial information architecture capable of linking to larger programs such as GCSS. « Return to FAQ List Офтальмология ощущение тела в глазу. Автозаводская. . Types of credit cards: you're able to select the right among the presented various cash choices. |
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