Conflicts in the Use of Geographic Information

地理信息技术的使用在美国的商业、政府、工业和科学界是普遍存在的。对于使用地理信息系统及其附属数据库的人、执行这些系统的人以及设计下一代空间信息技术的人来说，冲突每天都在发生。平衡相互竞争的利益和解决使用这些技术所涉及的冲突是社会中许多各方日益面临的问题。最受关注的问题领域包括涉及个人信息隐私、地理信息的知识产权、使用地理数据集的责任、公共访问政府地理数据集、图书馆地理信息的公共产品方面以及政府机构销售地理信息的问题。这项研究涉及一项试点研究，该研究将证明使用和创建地理信息系统的人和这些系统所包含的主体认为存在的冲突的程度。研究人员将开发和试验基于网络的调查问卷，以确定在每个主要问题域中系统开发人员、用户和数据主体的抽样组之间的兴趣和价值选择是否不同，以及在多大程度上不同。当受影响的各方之间存在显著差异时，研究人员将根据实践中目睹的经验开发冲突场景。在每个主要问题域内的地理信息冲突问题的全范围将被充分探索和记录。从实践中得出的设想和问题将为后续研究确定方法和实质性阶段，从而寻求可能的解决办法。最终，将确定解决具体冲突的偏好，并提出指导原则。在试点期间收集的数据和开发的情景，以及在未来研究中开发和探索的建议原则，将构成地理信息科学界广泛的道德和伦理讨论的基础。

The use of geographic information technologies is pervasive throughout business, government, industry and the scientific community in the United States. Conflicts are arising on a daily basis for those using geographic information systems and their affiliated databases, for those implementing such systems, and for those designing the next generations of spatial information technologies. Balancing among competing interests and resolving conflicts involved in the use of these technologies are growing problems for numerous parties within society. Among the problem domains of greatest concern are those involving personal information privacy, intellectual property rights in geographic information, liability in the use of geographic data sets, public access to government geographic data sets, public goods aspects of geographic information in libraries, and sales of geographic information by government agencies. This research involves a pilot study that will evidence the extent to which conflicts are perceived to exist by those using and creating geographic information systems and by those who are the subjects contained within such systems. Researchers will develop and pilot web-based questionnaires to determine whether and to what extent interest and value choices differ among sampled groups of system developers, users, and data subjects within each of the major problem domains. Where significant differences are evidenced as existing among affected parties, researchers will develop conflict scenarios patterned after experiences witnessed in practice. The full range of geographic information conflict issues within each of the major problem domains will be fully explored and documented. The scenarios and the problems drawn from practice will set the methodological and substantive stage for follow on research in which potential solutions may be sought. Eventually, preferences for resolving specific conflicts will be determined and guiding principles will be suggested. Gathered data and scenarios developed during the pilot, as well as suggested principles to be developed and explored in future research, will form the foundation for broad-ranging moral and ethical discussions within the geographic information science community.