Geo SURA is a geographic platform that integrates key elements for the analysis of opportunities and risks of companies, or that facilitates decision-making with a higher level of information, allowing the transformation of situations into business opportunities and resilience management. 

* This article was published in Geociências SURA Magazine | Edition 2 | September 2017.

Global trend in information technologies

The technological advance in the last two years has seen the increasing use of geomatics, which allows the visualization and interactive analysis of georeferenced information associated with points, lines or polygons through maps with details on a global, regional, national and local scale.

This visualization of information allows you to optimize mobilization times, improve the quality of services or plan the development of businesses, leaving no time for isolated consultation and analysis of large alphanumeric databases.

From this trend, SURA developed Geo SURA, which responds to the business information management needs of its clients. This system was implemented to support the integration of information from different sources and the management and making of strategic and operational decisions through a simple, intuitive and agile tool.

To Geo SURA as promoter of the Management of Trends and Risks (GTR)

This platform as an information integrator plays an important role within SURA's Trend and Risk Management (GTR) model because it facilitates its clients' development and appropriation of the knowledge necessary to identify and understand trends and risks that are not evident and that In the short, medium or long term we can have an impact on achieving two strategic objectives of your companies.

Users have a large number of possibilities to consult and analyze the trends and risks of their businesses., such as: 

• visualization and geographical analysis of the properties that make up the operations, the logistics network, the national and international suppliers, the existing and empowered clients and other agents in the value chain;
  
• integration of production data, assembly of stores, raw materials or specific product, provision of services and marketing;
• access to specific studies on a global, regional, national or local scale;
  
• consultation of results of risk matrices, production and prioritization of their installations, considering different criteria and attributes;
  
• Overlaying thematic maps on business trends and risks. 

In the analyzes of the interrelationships of nature with the strategic objectives of companies, The system allows you to visualize and analyze natural ameaçais such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, droughts, forest fires, tornadoes, storms and natural phenomena in general, it also allows the integration of hydrometeorological and climatic information (historical and forecasting), data on water sources, historical crop yields, land uses, among others. others. 

How does Geo SURA work? 

Access to Geo SURA requires a single user per person, which makes it possible to create a profile according to your information needs and functionalities, personalizing your experience using the tools. 

The system allows the processing and dynamic analysis of information in different stages:

• identification of a question or need that needs to be solved using geographic information systems;
• organization of data and sources of information necessary with the accompaniment of SURA;
• loading dice and thematic maps for analysis;
• Interactive analysis of alphanumeric information in a geographic environment with a wide variety of options in graphic outputs, table formats or map representations.

Features and functionalities 

Geo SURA is an intuitive tool for the user and allows him to take full advantage of all its functionalities without the need for prior knowledge in geographic information systems. 

It allows you to integrate information at a global, regional and local level, results of specific studies, given by your businesses and, in general, any type of information available that is of interest to the user. 

These functionalities offer a wide world of possibilities of analysis through a great diversity of data in an interactive way within the same analysis, or that allows making decisions with a better level of information to reduce uncertainty.

“A Geo SURA is a tool for making decisions.” 

Juana Llano, Vice President of Suramericana Insurance SA

 

An infinite number of applications 

The applications of Geo SURA in the various areas of knowledge and two businesses are varied and unlimited and can be extended to the information available to the imagination of the user who wants to obtain it.

These are some two uses that are within the range of applications:

• Analysis of the environment — forces of nature, society and technology, megatrends (demographic changes, scarcity of natural resources, global governance, hyperconnectivity, urbanism, variety and climate change, among others), sectors and activities of the economy and needs of society at different geographical scales .
• Market analysis — market niches and customer segmentation based on consumer trends and business trends.
• Strategic and operational planning of two businesses — visualization and analysis of the supply network, targeting of sales forces, management of projects, optimization of failures, assessment of real and potential impacts (positive or negative) in communities, management of natural events and those caused by homem.

Sources

• Esteban Herrera Estrada. Civil Engineer of the University of Medellín. 
• Jorge Santiago Victoria Dominguez. Civil Engineer of the National University of Colombia.
• Juana Francisca Llano Cadavid. Lawyer, specialist in Finance and Business Administration, Civil and Insurance Liability Department of the Universidade Pontifícia Bolivariana, Resseguro specialist of the Universidade Pontifícia de Salamanca, Spain.