Web 2.0 and its application in DSS

In their paper on the uses of Web 2.0 to support spatial decision making, Rinner et al. address one of the problems that M. C. Er identified in DSS 20 years earlier: group decision making. By using PGIS as a source of data, making decisions for a group of people is made easier. In order to test this, the authors designed Arguumaps, where users could make geographically referenced comments about campus/city life or the Ryerson identity. Though some limitations were present, the power of PGIS is clear in its application of online mapping.

 

Whether this data is useful in DSS is a whole other questions. The authors argue that this case study shows that it could be a useful tool by having users vote on preferred geographically reference locations. For example, instead of posting comments about their favorite restaurants, users could cast votes on restaurants over a whole array of criteria, thus helping other users pick which restaurants they would want to go to.

 

Presently, 5 years after this article was written, google implemenets these services on their maps. Great strides have been made in mapping as a support to spatial decision making however much ambiguity still exists over the exact definition of DSS.

 

Pointy McPolygon

 

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