Spatial information technology and society: Ethics, values, and practice (Asia, January 2003; Honolulu, Hawaii, January 2004)

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project involves case studies and workshops to assess ethical, organizational, and socioeconomic issues involved in using spatial information technology for promoting community-based resource management in the Asia/Pacific region. Recent growth in availability of modem spatial information technology such as geographic information systems (GIS), low-cost global positioning systems (GPS), and remote sensing image analysis software has empowered those traditionally disenfranchised by maps to record and control mapped information, a privilege formerly available only to state-funded mapmakers. At the same time, this newly acquired authority to define and exert control over the use of space compromises the customary uses it is intended to protect. Spatial information technology and mapping generally promote practices that shift attention and concern away from qualities of human/environment relationship to quantifiable limits on that relationship implied by boundaries/borders. The project's primary objectives are to: 1) analyze the impact of mapping technologies and activities on the cultural and social dynamics of rural communities, 2) understand the social and political dynamics involved in enrolling in and employing/deploying new technologies, and 3) develop a general strategy for critically evaluating the ethical, organizational, and socio-political impacts of technology transfer. Since most research on the implications of spatial information technology has been conducted in North America, this project fills a gap in understanding the impact of importing technology conceived and developed in societies with different developmental histories. Participants are from seven Asian organizations currently involved in NGO projects that use spatial information technology for promoting community-based resource management in the Asia/Pacific region will participate, and from Canadian and U.S. projects that have relevant prior experience. The project is structured to allow participants to learn from each other's experiences, and to develop a more realistic understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in adopting spatial information technology for promoting community based resource management. Workshop discussions will be distilled into a publication that will provide a state-of-the-art survey of methodology and issues as well as specify specific technologies and how they should be used. Project activities are designed to provide social activists with conceptual tools to assist them in evaluating the roles of spatial information technology in advancing their goals.