GIS Fifteen Years Later

The emergence of the internet, as described in the Goodchild (2005) article, has been huge for GIS, if not only because we now have a handy description of what we do: “you know Google Maps? I do something like that”.

Online mapping applications, such as Google Maps, have democratized the use of GIS. However, this does not mean that “powerful and complex technologies” can be used by everyone. Much like access to photo editing software does not make a photographer, easy access to GIS does not make everyone a geographer. Nevertheless, anyone who so wishes now has the possibility of understanding and visualizing geographical processes. If this can inspire a “child of ten” to pursue a career in geography, it would only be an added benefit.

The use of online GIS adds a third form to Goodchild’s description that “GIScience might take two essentially distinct forms: research about GIS that would lead eventually to improvement in the technology; and research with GIS that would exploit the technology in the advancement of science” (2).  One can also use a GIS without understanding the technology or the science.

Finally, the popularity of Google Maps gives the uninformed a new appreciation for geography, and perhaps one fewer geographer will be asked “You study geography? So what’s the capital of X?”.

-IMC

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