Twenty years of progressGIS cience in.docx

Twenty years of progressGIS cience in.docx

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TwentyyearsofprogressGISciencein

Twentyyearsofprogress:

GISciencein2010

MichaelF.Goodchild

CenterforSpatialStudiesandDepartmentofGeography

UniversityofCalifornia,SantaBarbara,CA93106-4060,USA

July27,2010

_____________________________________________________________________

Abstract:

Itis20yearssincetheterm“geographicinformationscience”wassuggestedtoencompassthesetoffundamentalresearchissuesthatsurroundGIS.TwodecadesofGISciencehaveproducedarangeofaccomplishments,inanexpandingliteratureofresearchresultsaswellasintheinfrastructureofresearch.Severalthemesaresuggestedforfutureresearch,basedbothongapsinwhathasbeenaccomplishedthusfar,andontechnologytrendsthatwillthemselvesraiseresearchquestions.

Keywords:

geographicinformationscience

_____________________________________________________________________

1Introduction

2010marksthe20thanniversaryofthecoiningoftheterm“geographicinformationscience,”andseemsanappropriateopportunitytoreflectandreview.Whatprogresshasbeenmade,whathavebeenthemajoraccomplishmentsofthefield,andwhatdiscoverieshavebeenmadeaboutthedomainofgeographicinformation?

Anothermotivationcomesfromthe20thanniversaryofthefundingoftheUSNationalCenterforGeographicInformationandAnalysisbytheNationalScienceFoundation,whichwascelebratedatanInternationalSymposiumonGeographicInformationScience,withanemphasisonreviewandassessment,inSantaBarbarainDecember2008（ncgia.ucsb.edu/projects/isgis/）.

Anyefforttoreflect,andtoreviewthevastrangeofaccomplishmentsofthepast20years,isinevitablysubjectivetosomedegree,reflectingthepersonalopinionsoftheauthor,thoughcomparativelyobjectivesourcescanbefoundinthepublicationsandcitationsofthefield,andintheinstitutionsthathaveemerged.Withthatinmind,thispaperisintendedmoreasastimulustootherstoreflect,anddoesnotpretendtobeentirelyobjective.

Thepaperisstructuredinthreesections.ThefirstmajorsectiondescribesthebeginningsofGIScience,earlydefinitionsofthefieldandeffortstodefinearesearchagenda,andthedebatesandcontroversiesthatinevitablyfollowed.Thesecondsectionreviewsaccomplishments,firstandprimarilyfromtheperspectiveofachievementsinresearch,butalsothroughadiscussionofinstitutionaldevelopmentsandbroaderimpacts.Thethirdandlastmajorsectionlookstothefuture,andpresentsafewthoughtsabouttheworldofgeographicinformationsystemsandtechnologiesthatislikelytoemergeinthenexttenyears.Inadditiontoitsfocusonpersistent,general,andfundamentaltheory,thefieldofGISciencehasalwaysbeendriventosomedegreebytechnology,sofuturedevelopmentswillneedtobeexaminedfromthreeperspectives:

first,whatresearchwillbeneededtoensurethatnewdevelopmentsarefeasible;second,whatresearchwillnewtechnologiesstimulate;andthird,whatissuesofasocialorethicalnaturewillnewtechnologiesraise,andhowshouldtheresearchcommunityrespond?

2Beginnings

2.1GIS:

Toolorscience?

Itiseasytoadvancearigorousdefinitionofgeographicinformation:

toqualify,afactmustlinksomepropertytoalocationonorneartheEarth’ssurface,andpossiblytoapointintimeoratimeinterval;geographicinformationissimplyacollectionofsuchfacts.Butthenotionthattheremightbefundamentalissuesassociatedwithgeographicinformation,andthatthesemightbestudiedinascientificmanner,aroseonlysporadicallyandinwidelyscatteredfields.Geodesy,forexample,requiresasystematicandscientificallybasedapproachtotheproblemofaccuratelymeasuringpositiononaplanetthathasacomplex,non-sphericalshapeandasimilarlycomplexgravityfield;itiseasy,therefore,tomakethecaseforageodeticscience.Cartographyalsodealswithgeographicinformation,butinamannerthatcombinesthescientificwiththeartistic.Photogrammetryismorelikelytobeidentifiedasabranchofengineeringthanasascience,sinceprogressreliesonfindingsolutionstoaseriesoftechnicalproblems.

Geography,thedisciplinethatstudiesthesocialandenvironmentalphenomenaofgeographicspace,haslongstruggledwiththequestionofwhetheritisascience.Amovementthatbeganinthe1950sandflourishedmostnotablyattheUniversityofWashingtonarguedthatgeographycouldindeedbeascience,andcouldaddressitssubjectmatterwithquantitativetools.Bunge’sTheoreticalGeography[6]isoneofthemostpersuasiveandcompellingstatementsoftheargument.Isummarizeditina2008essayinacollectionofkeytextsinhumangeography[30]as:

“thatgeographyisascience;thateveryscienceisdefinedbyitsdomainof

knowledge,whichforgeographyistheEarthasthehomeofhumanity;that

everysciencehasbothafactualorempiricalsideandatheoreticalside;andthat

‘therearemanybooksongeographicfactsandnoneontheory’[6,p.x].”

Geographicinformationsystems（GIS）,acointermedinthe1960s,hadevolvedbythelate1980sintoawidelyadoptedsoftwareapplication.ThescientificcommunityhadbeeninvolvedfromthestartinsolvingthetechnicalproblemsofbuildingaGIS,includingthedesignofdatastructures[46]andalgorithmsforexecutingsimpleoperationssuchastopologicaloverlay.Butthenotionthattheremightbeascienceofgeographicinformationtooklongertotakeroot[55],andinsomequartersthedebatecontinuestoday.

ThefirstindicationthattheremightbefundamentalissuesassociatedwithGIScameinthemid1980s,whenRonaldAblerandothersbegantoadvocatetheestablishmentofanationalcenterintheUSwithfundingfromtheNationalScienceFoundation.Thesolicitationthatappearedin1987,followingextensivediscussionwiththeresearchcommunity,includedfivepotentialresearchareas:

spatialanalysisandspatialstatistics;spatialrelationshipsanddatabasestructures;artificialintelligenceandexpertsystems;visualization;andsocial,economic,andinstitutionalissues[1,43].Thefiveoverlappedthedomainsofmanytraditionaldisciplines,includinggeography,statistics,computerscience,cartography,economics,andpoliticalscience,butbroughtthemtogetherinanovelmultidisciplinarymix.

DavidSimonett,PrincipalInvestigatorofthewinningbidforthecenterfromaconsortiumoftheUniversityofCalifornia,SantaBarbara,theStateUniversityofNewYorkatBuffalo,andtheUniversityofMaine,hadlongbeenconcernedwiththelackoftheoryinhisowndiscipline,remotesensing,andwithitsoverwhelmingconcernwiththedevelopmentoftechnology.Inhisviewthisleftthefieldvulnerabletoattackfrommoretheory-orienteddisciplines,andliabletoberelegatedtosecond-classstatusintheacademy.HowmightscientificresearchaboutthefundamentalissuesassociatedwithGISachievethekindofstatusneededforelectiontotheUSNationalAcademyofSciences（NAS）,forexample,oritsequivalentinothercountries?

Therewasmuchdiscussionofthisissueamongthecenter’sleadershipinitsearlyyears.

Inthesummerof1990Iwasinvitedtogiveakeynoteaddressatthe4thInternationalSymposiumonSpatialDataHandling,abiennialconferenceseriesthathadbeeninitiatedbyDuaneMarbleandothersattheUniversityofWashingtonin1984.ArgumentsoverGISassciencewereverymuchonmymindwhenIwrotethetextofthekeynoteinStLuciaearlyin1990（notethereferencetotapes,sincedatadisseminationinthiserawasstilldominatedbythe2400ftreelofhalf-inch-wide9-trackmagnetictape）:

“What,afterall,isspatialdatahandling?

Itmaydescribewhatwedo,butitgives

nosenseofwhywedoit.Itsuggeststhatspatialdatais（sic）somehowdifficult

tohandle,butwillthatalwaysbeso?

Itsuggestsalevelofdetachmentfromthe

datathemselves,asiftheUSGSweretosendouttapeslabeledwiththegeneric

warning“handlewithdifficulty”...Weareconcernedwithmuchmorethanthe

merehandlingandprocessingofdata.WearemorethantheUPS（UnitedParcel

Service）ofGIS.”[24,p.3]

Instead,IarguedthatthecommunityofresearchersinterestedinGISshouldseeitselfasfocusingonaspatialinformationscience,andtitledthepaperaccordingly.IlaidoutaseriesoffundamentalissueswhichifaddressedscientificallymightqualifyaproductiveresearcherformembershipintheNAS.

AsecondkeynoteinasimilarveinattheSecondEuropeanGISConferencein1991fleshedoutmyideasforaresearchagenda,andincludedthefirstreferencetoa“geographicinformationscience”.Itexpressedcautionovertheresearchagenda,arguingthattheposingofaresearchquestiondidnotnecessaryguaranteeusefulresults:

“Rapidprogresswasmadeonalgorithmsanddatastructuresinthe1970s

and1980s,butmanyofthehardproblemsofdatamodeling,errormodeling,

integrationofspatialanalysis,andinstitutionalandmanagerialissuesremain.

Someofthesemaybeunsolvable—forexample,theremaysimplybeno

generalitiestobediscovered（about）theprocessofadoptionofGISby

governmentagencies,howevereasyitmaybetoposetheresearchquestion.”

[25,pp.342–350]

ShortlythereafterTerryCoppock,editorofthenewInternationalJournalofGeographicalInformationSystems（IJGIS）,askedmetobringthetwokeynotestogetherinasinglepaper[26].Ititledthepapergeographicalratherthanspatialinformationsciencefortworeasons.First,IwasintriguedbytheambiguityitimpliedaboutthedecodingofGIS（otherauthorshavesincesuggestedthattheSmightstandforservicesorstudiesaswellassystemsorscience）.Second,its