But because it was only used by specific industries and tech-heads until recently, GIS is often confused with the little device that says “Turn left here” in a soothing British accent from its perch on your dashboard.
Your Global Positioning System (or GPS, as you may know it) knows to take that left by consulting a map of distances, twists, turns and landmarks, accurate down to the meter and spanning the Earth, according to Kurowski. This collection of information, accessible in seconds to drivers as well as Google Maps users, state departments, the U.S. Census Bureau and many others, is what’s called GIS.
- Arlington Advocate (who's GIS was recently updated; its built on MapServer by PeopleGIS, press release)
