Insurers will be among the groups targeted by a new partnership that aims to promote geographic information system (GIS) technology for uses such as flood mapping.

GIS specialist Esri Australia and the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI), the peak body of spatial professionals, have formed an alliance to promote the use of the technology.

They will be seeking particularly to encourage its use by business, such as insurers, utilities and miners. Their traditional markets are government and military users.

By layering detailed flood models over property data on a map, GIS technology can reveal the level of risk a property faces.

Esri MD Brett Bundock says GIS technology played a vital role in emergency response during the Queensland flood and cyclone disasters, and the partners will facilitate a series of discussions with business leaders from sectors where GIS is not yet established.

“A number of sectors are now looking with great interest to how the technology can strengthen their decision-making,” he said.

Esri developed a Brisbane City Council Flood Map earlier this year which provided a clear view of the scale of the flood disaster before the event fully unfolded.

Brisbane City Council and emergency response teams used the map, and over three million members of the public also accessed it at the height of the crisis.