<s>
A	O
local	O
information	O
system	O
(	O
LIS	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
information	O
system	O
built	O
with	O
business	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
tools	I-Application
,	O
designed	O
primarily	O
to	O
support	O
geographic	O
reporting	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
overlap	O
with	O
some	O
capabilities	O
of	O
geographic	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
(	O
GIS	B-Application
)	O
,	O
although	O
their	O
primary	O
function	O
is	O
the	O
reporting	O
of	O
statistical	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
rather	O
than	O
the	O
analysis	O
of	O
geospatial	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
LIS	O
also	O
tend	O
to	O
offer	O
some	O
common	O
knowledge	O
management	O
functionality	O
for	O
storage	O
and	O
retrieval	O
of	O
unstructured	B-Application
data	I-Application
such	O
as	O
documents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
deliver	O
functionality	O
to	O
load	O
,	O
store	O
,	O
analyse	O
and	O
present	O
statistical	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
that	O
has	O
a	O
strong	O
geographic	O
reference	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
date	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
widely	O
used	O
elsewhere	O
although	O
other	O
terms	O
like	O
community	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
apply	O
to	O
solutions	O
,	O
primarily	O
in	O
North	O
America	O
,	O
that	O
have	O
a	O
great	O
deal	O
of	O
overlap	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
widely	O
used	O
and	O
largely	O
synonymous	O
term	O
is	O
data	B-Application
observatory	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-Application
observatory	I-Application
is	O
a	O
more	O
widely	O
used	O
term	O
internationally	O
particularly	O
within	O
the	O
area	O
of	O
public	O
health	O
where	O
sites	O
which	O
often	O
include	O
this	O
type	O
of	O
statistical	O
reporting	O
application	O
are	O
often	O
termed	O
a	O
health	O
observatory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
England	O
in	O
particular	O
this	O
has	O
led	O
to	O
a	O
rapid	O
increase	O
in	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
Local	B-Application
Information	I-Application
Systems	I-Application
particularly	O
within	O
local	O
Authorities	O
and	O
Local	O
Strategic	O
Partnerships	O
.	O
</s>
