IT and Geo Mapping Small Business Success

  

IT and Geo Mapping

Helping a Small Business Succeed

Geographic mapping is not new, and in fact, has been around for approximately 2000 years.  We have proof of this, when we examine the first world map of Anaximander (died ca. 546 BCE), who is credited with having created one of the first maps of the world, which was circular in form and showed the known lands of the world, grouped around the Aegean Sea at its center. The concepts for use of geographic mapping have changed, and remarkably, have managed to integrate so fully in our technology advances relating to data mining and mapping, that it is very difficult to imagine any Information System or Technology Infrastructure without some form of mapping quality.  A good question would be what does any of this have to do with business — well a lot!  Consider examples of business mapping by zip codes, (est. 1960), and then consider the American Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (EuroNext), now look up earnings for two businesses, UPS and FedEx.  These are prime examples of Information Technology at its finest; we may even state, “perfection.”   Who would have thought, or, could have imagined, a simple thing, such as a zip code, would and did produce, billions of dollars, not to mention jobs. . .worldwide.  In response to that statement, Information Technology did!  Referencing all this history to the case of a business, which needs to know where the supply chain falls for their goods or services, mapping geographically becomes a critical part of the business plan, and the strategy behind that plan.  There may be a down side to all of this mapping glory however, when Info Space becomes too competitive, where will all of these services go?  One author seems to have a finger on the pulse of Web Space, that author being, Richard Rogers.  In Roger’s peer reviewed article, Web Space, Theory, Culture, Society, Mapping and the Politics of Web Space, Rogers states that ‘virtual’ topologies in cyberspace have been grounded . . . due to mobile networks.  His research on regulatory trends raises questions regarding, “What if the web were to decide who should sit at the roundtable,” (Rogers, Richard, 2012) this statement adds profound insight and seems eerily exacting, much like Information Technology.  Roger’s article treats the shift in focus away from the ‘metaphysics’ of software-enabled space-- online (the “virtual” topologies), to critiques of a new revolution of trace routing.  This is truly something to think about!  So, when you sit down to do some long-range business planning, and even perhaps, set up your perpetual business for the lucky lineage(s) in line, you may want to read Mr. Roger’s article.  A web link has been provided to direct you to Richard Roger’s article, and invitations for comments extended to the virtual world out there!

http://tcs.sagepub.com/content/29/4-5/193

References

Rogers, Richard, 2012, Mapping and the Politics of Web Space, Theory, Culture, Society, 29: 193, DOI: 10.1177/0263276412450926, SAGE Publications