Beyond Mapping: The Challenges of New Technologies in the Geographic Information Sciences

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Rapid technological changes over the past three decades have had profound and challenging impacts on the cluster of disciplines that focus on the production, dissemination, and use of geographic information and related technologies, i.e., the geographic information sciences. This 18-month study will assess the geographic information sciences via examination of their intellectual bases and associated research agendas, sources of research funding, organization within educational institutions, and links with other more broadly-based disciplines such as computer and information science. The study will also assess the current and future demand for professionals in the geographic information sciences and future competitive prospects for U.S. industries based on the geographic information sciences.The significance of this research lies in its ability to describe, predict, and explain current and future gaps between societal need and demand for geographic information sciences and a workforce skilled in this knowledge and these techniques. As the technology evolves, the agencies, public and private, that provide data to decision-makers and stakeholders must also evolve. To chart a future direction, we need a better understanding of the trajectory of change in the geographic information sciences over the past 30 years.