Geographic Information Systems and Scouting

[Trevorum]

A few years ago when I was planning out my ticket, I had the idea to develop a GIS data base for our district, plotting current Chartering Organizations, schools, and existing Scout units. I figured the resulting maps would be a great way to identify areas of the district that are under-served and where a new unit or two might find fertile recruiting ground. Add in a few data layers with base population and unit membership numbers and it could be a really powerful planning tool.

 

This is the kind of thing that for-profit franchises do as a matter of routine ("Where shall we build our next McRestaurant?") but for which non-profits rarely have the resources to build and maintain.

 

I never did pursue this idea for my ticket but I'm now wondering if this idea has any real merit or if it would just be 'over-engineering'. Does anyone have any experience with this kind of thing in Scouting?