Alumni Event: Lecture by Jack Dangermond on Geographic information systems (GIS) for business and analytics

A landscape architect by training, Jack Dangermond founded Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) in 1969 with a vision that computer mapping and analysis could help us design a better future. Under Dangermond’s leadership, that vision has continued to guide Esri in creating cutting-edge GIS and Geodesign technologies used in every industry to make a difference worldwide. Dangermond fostered the growth of Esri from a small research group to an organization recognized as the world leader in GIS software development. Jack Dangermond has Honorary Doctorates from 13 Universities and number of Honorary Awards from different organizations and Associations Worldwide. 

GIS analyses location and location matters not just because of the mass adoption of smartphones, location-aware applications, or the explosion of location-based big data. Location matters because it ties many business units together and makes it possible to solve problems that had no solutions before. It enables us to ask new questions and gain insight and understanding by looking at traditional data such as sales, costs, profit drivers, and customer characteristics or desires in new ways. Location comes embedded with many of the new types of information that are core to twenty-first century businesses—social media, check-ins, mobile searches, online shares, and more. Every offer and marketing contact has a location, too. It’s time the fog lifted and you saw your business opportunities with clarity.

Since 1969, Esri has helped customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Today, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations including the world’s largest cities, most national governments, 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri engineers the most advanced solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and location analytics to inform the most authoritative maps in the world.

What

A geographic information system (GIS) delivers real-time, location-based insight. GIS can capture and analyze any data with a spatial context, from the location of a company’s trucks and drivers, to the spending habits of people on a particular block, to the effects of weather patterns moving across the country.

Why

Because location information is key to market intelligence, operational intelligence, real-time awareness and more. As companies strive to answer customer needs, boost revenue, and set strategic direction, GIS provides insight on fundamental questions like: Where are sales trending upward? Where are we missing opportunities? What threats are on the horizon?

Who

GIS delivers insight to the field and to the corner office. Leading companies have recognized its crucial role as a business intelligence tool and are using GIS to optimize the work streams of service technicians, risk analysts, business planners, and executives.