Introduction
The programme “Geographic Information Systems (GIS)” develops professional practice in Information Systems. It connects the subject with workplace challenges by examining existing evidence and practices and choosing methods appropriate to the organization and its available resources.
The learning progresses from spatial analysis and geographic information systems to information protection and incident response, with practical work on municipal service development and city management, information systems analysis, integration, and service management, data analysis and decision support. Participants prepare outputs to support workplace application and review the quality and results of implementation.
Learning objectives
- Prepare a spatial analysis connecting data quality to a specific service or planning question in an application related to “Geographic Information Systems (GIS)”.
- Design a municipal service improvement connecting spatial planning, operations, and beneficiary experience.
- Analyze information system requirements and design acceptance, integration, and operational criteria.
- Turn available data into documented analysis that supports a specific professional decision.
- Assess information risks and select suitable preventive controls and a response plan.
Learning areas
1. Spatial Analysis and Geographic Information Systems
- Define the spatial question, unit of analysis, geographical boundaries, and beneficiary groups, and select data that serves the required decision.
- Organize layers, coordinates, metadata, and update sources, checking spatial accuracy, coverage, and consistency across files.
- Select appropriate join, proximity, coverage, or classification operations, document assumptions, and avoid interpreting the map beyond the limits of data quality.
- Design a map with a clear scale, symbols, legend, source, and date, considering privacy and permissions for publishing sensitive locations.
- Present a planning or service allocation scenario using the results, identifying additional data and an update plan before approving the decision. The application examines a case related to “Geographic Information Systems (GIS)”.
2. Municipal Service Development and City Management
- Analyze municipal responsibilities, stakeholders, services, and local assets, and identify a measurable need within a clearly defined geographical area.
- Map a licensing or field service journey, review requirements and interagency handovers, and identify duplication, delays, and unclear responsibilities.
- Use spatial and operational data to prioritize work, checking update accuracy, boundaries, and the privacy of resident and establishment data.
- Design a municipal intervention connecting resources, contracts, operations, and community participation, and define acceptance and service quality criteria.
- Prepare indicators for coverage, responsiveness, cost, and beneficiary satisfaction, and a plan for piloting the intervention and reviewing its effects before expansion.
3. Information Systems Analysis, Integration, and Service Management
- Analyze system users, processes, and the decisions it supports, translating needs into clear functional and nonfunctional requirements.
- Model data flows, entities, relationships, and interfaces, identifying each data item's source and the party responsible for its quality and updating.
- Compare build, buy, integration, and hosting alternatives according to constraints, security, total cost, and available support capabilities.
- Design test cases covering performance, permissions, usability, and integration, and connect each test to a testable acceptance criterion.
- Prepare a transition, operations, support, change management, and backup plan, defining indicators for service availability, fault resolution, and improvement review.
4. Data Analysis and Decision Support
- Frame an analytical question linked to a specific decision, and define the unit of measurement, time period, and data needed to answer it.
- Check data quality for completeness, accuracy, consistency, and duplication, and document cleaning steps and limitations on reliance.
- Select appropriate comparisons, indicators, and charts, and distinguish statistical correlation from causal explanations of results.
- Interpret results in the work context, test assumptions and unusual values, and present alternatives and their associated uncertainty.
- Prepare an analytical report containing the finding, recommendation, data source and date, review owner, and next follow-up step.
5. Information Protection and Incident Response
- Inventory assets, data, accounts, services, and their interdependencies, classifying sensitivity, criticality, and accountable owners.
- Analyze threats, vulnerabilities, and potential misuse, and identify necessary controls according to risks, resources, and applicable law.
- Review identity and access management, updates, backups, and logs, and identify evidence for verifying control effectiveness.
- Build a process for incident detection, classification, containment, escalation, and evidence preservation, specifying authorized internal and external communication.
- Conduct an exercise using authorized training data and an authorized training environment, and evaluate response and recovery times, lessons learned, and a gap remediation plan.
Practical outputs
- A thematic map, data dictionary, and report on spatial analysis limitations.
- A municipal service profile, needs map, intervention plan, and monitoring indicators.
- A requirements document, data flow map, and testing and acceptance plan.
- A dashboard and decision memo explaining the data, assumptions, and alternatives.
- An information asset and risk register, response plan, and recovery test.
Who should attend
- Practitioners, specialists and supervisors whose work relates to the programme subject.
- Managers and teams working in information systems, according to their practical responsibilities.
- Professionals responsible for applying the outputs of “Geographic Information Systems (GIS)” within their organizations.
Prerequisites
- Working familiarity with the programme field and the ability to discuss a professional case or challenge.
- Confirm the suitability of your experience and any specialist prerequisites with the Union before participation.
Conclusion
The programme “Geographic Information Systems (GIS)” brings together concepts, case review and a practical application. Participants prepare steps that can be adapted to their responsibilities and organizational resources, with an indicator to follow application and review results after returning to work.
Participation arrangements and any special requests are specified in the confirmation issued by the Union.