Evolution of GIS Technologies in a Web 2.0 World

Paul Swensonps1@umbc.eduUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore CountyDepartment of Computer ScienceCMSC691S – Social Web Technologies

Background

Introduction to GIS

• Geographic Information System• Wikipedia defines as:

“Any system for capturing, storing, analyzing, and managing data and associated attributes which are spatially referenced to Earth.”

• Where did GIS come from?– Idea has been around for some ~15,500 years.

Heritage of Modern GIS

• London Cholera outbreak in 1854

• Dr. John Snow created this map in an attempt to isolate what was infecting all the people

• First recorded use of modern geographic (and mash-up) principles

Evolution of GIS Systems

• 1962: Creation of first modern GIS computer system, CGIS

• 1964: Harvard Laboratory begins development general-purpose mapping software (SYMAP)

• 1969: ESRI founded, inspired by Harvard’s software

• 1982: ESRI releases ARC/INFO

• 1992: ESRI releases ArcView

Relationship to Social Web Technologies

Social Web

Folksonomy & Tagging

Mashups

Geospatial Web

The Semantic Web

Blogs

Image courtesy of Prof. Harry Chen

• The Geospatial Web is derived from modern GIS systems and databases

• GIS provides tantalizing material for which Web 2.0 developers can create mash-ups

Research Efforts

Extending Traditional Wiki Systems with Geographical Content

• Research effort led by Dr. Piotr Gawrysiak of the Warsaw University of Technology, Poland

• Goal: GIS Data Store -> GeoWiki!– Allow anyone to submit updates to the

GIS vector data store– Promotes more

up-to-date data– A GIS archive

maintained using wikiprinciples would becompletely free andopen for anyone to use.

Intended Users of System

• Normal Users– Should be similar to

Google Maps, Mapquest, Yahoo Maps, etc.

• Tech-savvy users– Perform edits to

maps– Access discussion

pages– Revert edits

Benefits of System

• Data public domain (Free!)

• Able to instantly fix any inaccuracies

• Because content is user-generated, more people contributing so more content

• Peer + Automated review increases quality of data

Very nice, how much? (Free!)

What kinds of technology used?

• Standard Web 2.0 Stuff– DBMS backend– AJAX– Server-side scripting– Client-side JavaScript

• Advanced Wiki collaborative features + revision management

How do you use this application?

• Navigate to site of the GeoWiki

• Enter search address• Choose to compute driving

directions• Click the Edit or Discussion

buttons (ala Wikipedia) for advanced features

• Search for Points of Interest near destination or current map location

OR:• Download dump of

GeoWiki GIS+POI database into handheld GPS unit for mobile navigation

Conclusions

• GIS is all about layers, and associating attributes to spatial data

• GIS is a key buzzword in the context of Social Web Technologies– Serves as a backend for for geospatial web

applications– Provides content allowing for users to create new

“layers” on top of publicly available GIS stores to create mashups

• The “wikification” of GIS– Allows normal users to update inaccurate data

and contribute new data– Apply best features of Wikis to a GIS data archive

References

"Geographic information system." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 April 2004. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 20 Mar. 2008.

Pietroniro et al. “Map Mashups and the Rise of Amateur Cartographers and Mapmakers.” ACMLA Bulletin. Number 127. Pages 26-30.

Fabrikant et. al. “Geospatial Information Bottom-Up: A Matter of Trust and Semantics.” Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography. Part 9. 2007. Pages 365-387.

Gawrysiak et. al. “Extending Traditional Wiki Systems with Geographical Content.” Project E-Society: Building Bricks. Volume 226. 2008. Pages 292-302.

Sui, D. “The wikification of GIS and its consequences: Or Angelina Jolie’s new tattoo and the future of GIS.” Computers, Environment and Urban Systems. Volume 32, Issue 1. Jan. 2008. Pages 1-5.

The End

Any questions?