The possibilities for data mapping are endless

A recent article in Information Week states that SAP and Google have decided to team up and let their customers mash their data with Google’s mapping capabilities, giving users the chance to visually see their data. It seems that more and more companies are seeing how compelling data can be when displayed on a map, showing areas of concentration or finding areas of need. While the SAP and Google team up is still a “mashup” of data and mapping, it does show the increase in interest of other ways to better utilize data.

As the article continues, “The possibilities for data mapping are endless. A bank grappling with foreclosures could mashup loan and foreclosure data with maps to see hot spots and trends by neighborhood. This could help the bank understand when and where to offer proactive interest-rate-reduction programs to avoid new defaults. A tax authority could overlay revenue information from a SAP app with Google Maps data to see income by state and county, or county, city, and township, making the largest and smallest parts of the tax base readily visible. Telecommunications providers could map data on dropped calls, revealing the biggest capacity and antenna reception problems.”

PolicyMap was built to help handle those possibilities listed, as well as other unique ways to interact with data. Users can upload their data using the Data Loader or working with our GIS team, and then the addresses can be displayed on top of thematic indicators in PolicyMap related to topics like housing, demographics, lending, or health.

One of PolicyMap’s client, IFF, was able to show their investments in the St. Louis area and give users the ability to see how those investments sit within areas of poverty or types of school enrollment.

This article was written by Doug Henschen at Information Week.