GIS inom räddningstjänstens brandförebyggande arbete - En studie om tillämpningar i fem räddningstjänstförbund

Sammanfattning: Swedish fire and rescue services are in a transformation that shifts towards an increased focus on preventive actions as well as more strategic oriented activities within the organizations. To support and develop such types of activities, Geographical Information System (GIS) could be an effective tool to manage and analyze geographic data. This thesis aims to examine the prerequisites for developing the use of GIS in the work of preventing fire at Swedish fire and rescue services. Two important questions related to this are whether GIS competence and access to necessarily geographical data are available within the organizations. The study is conducted through qualitative interviews with representatives from five Swedish fire departments. The empirical material from the interviews is analyzed through problematized geographical perspectives on the use of GIS in processes of planning and decision-making. Based on the results it is found that an increase in use of GIS within fire preventive operations must take into account the maturity of the organization, allowing an increase in use of GIS into a long-term and gradual process. An increased use of GIS is furthermore limited by the access to necessary data to perform requested analyses in best ways.