Pathways for Growth
Standards-based Heterogeneous Systems
Some geoinformatics experts argue that the evolution of standards, e.g. from the OpenGIS consortium, has reached a stage where these standards define a complete architecture framework for geospatial applications. Large portions of traditional monolithic systems can therefore be replaced by best-of-breed components, thereby avoiding the expensive overheads incurred by large, integrated proprietary architectures. While again there is some merit to this approach, current implementations are rather limited. On the one hand some optimisation and scaling issues are not dealt with in standards and thus might be left out altogether from heterogeneous, conglomerated systems, on the other hand the overall effort to build and maintain this kind of environments is anything but minor.
Another key critical aspect clearly is the complexity of licensing and business models for mixed systems. System integrators are largely on their own when tracking interfacing problems, issues cannot easily be isolated and attached to any one component. With the exception of large-scale Spatial Data Infrastructures spanning multiple institutions and jurisdictions, heterogeneous environments likely will not have a broad appeal.
GIS as a Public Utility (?)
Interestingly, the conveners of the 2007 Map World Forum in Hyderabad have made this claim a programmatic motto of the conference. While navigation / positioning services (e.g. GNSS) have been dubbed the ‘fifth utility’ (alongside water, electricity, gas and the telecommunication) years ago, the perspective on GIS as a public utility is rather new.
It could be argued that GIS in itself is an unlikely candidate for a public utility as average citizens will typically not be interested in working with GIS. Nor should they, at least if we consider GIS from an IT systems perspective. Still, online services rendered on the basis of GIS very much fit the bill of an everyday necessity widely used by the general population.
We of course recognize that public utilities serve basic needs in society, that in many ways they form the backbone of functioning economies. Utilities are frequently considered from a civil infrastructures perspective: providing critical services not as a purpose in and of itself, but rather to facilitate processes in business, society and personal lives.
Infrastructures are sometimes considered part of government responsibilities, either from an operational or regulatory perspective. As there are facets of natural monopolies, it might be difficult to reject any government role. If we are looking at public utilities from an infrastructure perspective, we will notice that this includes a substantial portion of today’s GIS operations. Utilities are only justified if there is an important benefit for users, typically realized and implemented as a market. Services based on GIS certainly are increasingly indispensable if we think about transportation and logistics, housing and other spatial functions, security and safety as well as environmental quality and simply personal mobility.
Growing the Market
Managing to grow these and other markets into customers for GIS will ultimately justify the cost and effort of building Spatial Data Infrastructures and of implementing GIS as an (indirect) utility. Spatially based services will be used by customers developing a need optimised services in their personal and professional lives. (We need to acknowledge, though, that this need is primarily linked to open societies with individuals leading mobile lifestyles in a market economy.)
Just as other utilities require certain end user skills (just think about electric appliances or telephony) leveraging a spatial infrastructure utility requires a skill set for sensible use in one’s daily life. Traditionally map reading and navigation were rather professional skills, only in an individualized society they are becoming general skills for everybody. Today, in order to grow the market for GIS services we need so secure a framework for pervasive location awareness for everybody.
‘Location awareness’ is a general concept for mobile and spatially thinking individuals, just like the concept of ‘telecommunication’ as such, or ‘energy’ required for driving appliances underlies other utilities. Going one step further towards more rational applications we enter the idea of ‘Learning to Think Spatially’ as outlined in a recent book published by the National Academies of Sciences Press, again one foundation for building the individual mental infrastructure required to make reasonable use of our Spatial Information Infrastructures. How does this connect with the above discussed topics? Well, right now we are at a crossroads for GIS: either we keep going as a maturing professional discipline in a saturating market. Or, move on towards using SDI’s as infrastructures for applications serving us as individuals in our daily lives, our business workflows and all other aspects in society. If we want to succeed in solving some of the evolutionary problems outlined above, if we want to move ahead with the success story of geospatial technologies and services, and if we want to ‘put our lives on a map’ for better managed societies, we need to start with education. Education on all levels clearly is the pathway to create a spatially literate society, and location aware actions by ‘spatial thinkers’. Growth in GIS primarily happens through education, and I am convinced of that as a GIS researcher as well as an educator!