GIS AS A VISUALIZATION TOOL FOR ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT

GIS technology is now being applied to the economic development proces s at local, regional, and state levels of government. Most of the exis ting systems have utilized the analytical capabilities of GIS to locat e suitable sites for various types of development. A computer system r ecently developed by Georgia Tech and Georgia Power uses GIS technolog y in a new way: as an interactive-visualization and decision-support t ool designed to directly support business location decision-makers. Th e development of such presentation systems, along with the more tradit ional analytical systems, raises important policy implications of conc ept transferability, appropriate organizational structures, and the po tential savings to be achieved by the rational targeting of future inf rastructure finance.