Future Directions in GIS

1
Future Directions in GIS

• Basic functions should remain constant
• Query, display, and analyze data with a location
  reference
• But changes in emphasis
• Away from data conversion, toward data analysis
• From description (static maps and diagrams) to
  decision support, simulation, and modeling, e.g.,
  real time display of freeway traffic flow,
  forest fires, accident hot spots

2
Technological Advances

• Increased data storage capacity
• Increased processing speeds
• Millimeter accuracy GPS, inertial guidance where
  GPS cant reach,
• High resolution (1m) satellite remote sensing
• High accuracy scanners
• Worldwide communications via low earth orbit
  satellite (Lockheed GlobalStar)

3
Information Technology Trends

• Improved Interoperability
• Spatial data transfer standards and metadata
• Commercially enhanced data -- public data made
  more usable/useful
• 3-tier Client Server computing separating
• user interface (client)
• analysis (applications server)
• data (multiple distributed data servers)
• Online data sources
• Data in real time, e.g., highway congestion
  management web sites

4
Improved Interoperability

• Spatial Data Interchange Formats
• e.g., DXF, SDTS (Spatial Data Transfer Standard)
• both involve translation (from internal private
  to external public format)
• Between GIS Systems and Other Applications
• OLE (Object Linking and Embedding), CORBA (Common
  Object Request Broker Architecture) -- two
  competing standards for object-based technology.
• Between GIS Systems Themselves (for data)
• Open GIS Consortium
• Metadata
• Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)

5
Data as an Asset

• Data holdings, managed by GIS, as an asset on
  private and public corporation balance sheets.
• billions spent on data acquisition and
  development
• In the information age, information is an asset
  no different from buildings and machinery.

6
GIS Expands, But GIS Shrinks

• GIS embedded within other environments
• GIS capabilities in application development
  systems (e.g., Powerbuilder, Visual Basic)
• database management systems (with spatial
  tools) -- CensusCDMAPS
• desktop packages, e.g., Atlas/GIS in Lotus,
  MapInfo in Excel
• business application information systems, e.g.,
  package (pizza or spare parts) tracking system,
  outage management for utilities -- commercial
  applications
• information kiosks and community information
  systems
• maps on web sites, e.g., www.mapquest.com
• Not always called GIS even though GIS is
  fundamental to all of the above

7
Next Steps in Learning GIS

• Old items not fully covered
• Spatial database creation and management
• Digitizing, GPS, projections
• Edgematching, constructing/correcting topology
• Standard raster analyses
• Additional overlay analyses
• Database management

8
Next Steps in Learning GIS

• Newer items -- future directions (actually old,
  but with increased emphasis)
• Customization
• GIS-specific customization languages, e.g.,
  MapBasic (MapInfo), Avenue (ArcView), AML
  (ArcInfo), GIS-DK (Maptitude)
• Application development languages, e.g., Visual
  Basic, C, PowerBuilder, etc., along with
  MapObjects (ArcView), MapX (MapBasic)
• Decision support systems, multicriteria analysis,
  modeling, simulation, spatial analysis, expert
  systems
• Web based development, e.g., Internet Mapper
  (ArcView)