GIS “Protest activity of Rostov region”: opportunities of using in regional social and economic policy

Digital technologies have contributed to the formation of a new theoretical and methodological approach to the studyof societyand they influenced the development of a new branch of knowledge i.e. digital sociology. The purpose of this article is to analyze the opportunity of using a geographic information system (ArcGIS) for the analysis of statistical data of the facts of protests which took place in Rostov Region over the past ten years (2009-2018). Street protests, rallies, demonstrations, strikes are the main barometer of the social and political tension of a society, an important indicator of the existence of social problems and contradictions that require solutions. The article provides an overview of existing databases, the methodology for the creation of the geographic information system “Protest activity of Rostov region” and the opportunity of its use, which generally depend on research goals and objectives. This product allows identifying the structure of social protest, its qualitative and quantitative characteristics, its dynamics in time and space with the visualization of the main trends and so on. The visualization of the centers of the social and political tension in the form of ready made electronic maps contributes to deeper understanding of political, social, economic or environmental processes that take place in the Don region at different times. The authors draw the conclusion that the GIS developed for this research provides an opportunity to identify latent threats and risks that can destabilize the social situation in Rostov region, and accordingly adjust the regional policy. The geographic information system “Protest activity of Rostov region” can be used both by researchers and experts from a wide range of scientific organizations and by authorities of various administrative levels.