Four case studies published the past weeks by the gvSIG community show the usefulness of this suite of open source Geographic Information Systems. The cases detail the gvSIG use by public administrations in Spain and Italy, to collect, manage and analyse information on gas pipelines, to create hiking trails, examine city commerce, and plan public transport networks.
The studies follow presentations at the 10th International gvSIG Conference, last December.
In Valencia (Spain), gvSIG is used to map the position of gas pipelines in streets. The information is used to protect the pipelines from being damaged by public works.
A second case study illustrates how the gvSIG tools can be used to create hiking trails. In the Italian province of Teramo, gvSIG is used to map trails in the national park of Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga. The routes pass some 29 abandoned villages. The province hopes that attracting walkers to these villages, creates opportunities for their restoration.
The Italian city of Florence is using gvSIG to research working conditions in the leather stores in the San Lorenzo market. The software manages information collected on each store, including the number of employees, store ownership and turnover. The city combines this with information from surveys on job satisfaction among employees, contract types, salary and working hours. The aim is to get a “clearer view of the leather business in Florence, and learn how to improve working conditions, boost the store’s value chain and promote goods ‘Made in Italy’.
For the Italian city of Brescia, gvSIG proves useful to analyse its public transport network. The administration aims to find out which areas are not efficiently covered by transport services, optimal routes for new trams and subways, and see how to reduce car traffic in the town.
The gvSIG suite of GIS tools was originally developed by the government of Valencia (Spain).