GIS 2000: A personal Viewby Jack Dangermond,
President, Environmental Systems Research
Institute, Redlands, California, USA.
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Jack Dangermond |
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Abstract : |
Driven by continuing rapid change in computer hardware, communications technology, operating systems, database management systems, and related technologies, and supported by explosive growth in the number of users and falling prices for products, Geographic Information Systems software and related technology are evolving rapidly. The increasing use of fully automated methods of spatial data collection, often using GPS referencing to insure spatial accuracy; continuing developments in scanning technology; and increasing availability of spatial data in various digital forms are making GIS increasingly attractive to organizations of all kinds. In the near future we can expect such developments as the launching and use of more commercial satellite remote sensing platforms, providing 1-3 meter resolution in their imagery; more computing power and user friendliness on the desktop; further development of local networking systems, often connected to private information warehouses; wider availability of spatial data from increasing numbers of Internet servers via the World Wide Web for interactive viewing, analysis and processing; the further development of distributed, object-oriented technology on the Internet; growth in the availability of geographic information on increasingly diverse storage devices; and further development of "open" GIS technology of various kinds. For very large spatial databases and information warehouses, technologies like the spatial database engine will be important. Somewhat more speculatively, the increasingly likely success of ventures like the Teledisc system of communication satellites may well provide enhanced means for the transmission and use of huge volumes of spatial data anywhere in the world. This presentation will describe these and other trends in the development of GIS in the years just ahead, and will be illustrated with applications of these and related technologies.
Jack Dangermond - Profile :
Jack Dangermond graduated with a B.S. from California Polytechnic College, Pomona; M.S. in Urban Planning from the Institute of Technology at the University of Minnesota; and M.S. in Landscape Architecture from the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, where he worked in the Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Design. He is the founder and President of Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) of Redlands, California, a firm which has been in the Geographic Information System (GIS) field since 1969. ESRI is now generally acknowledged as the technical and market leader in GIS software and custom turnkey systems, with the largest install base in the world and more than 60,000 seats on workstations, minicomputers and mainframes, and personal computers. ARC/INFO ESRI customers are represented on all continents. He has been the recipient of numerous fellowships, grants and awards, including the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association Horwood award "for outstanding contributions...to the information systems field," and the Association of American Geographers (AAG) Honorary Membership, presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to geography. He has served on various national advisory committees and boards, including, for example, NASA's Science and Technology Advisory Committee. He continues to deliver keynote addresses at various meetings and conferences around the globe.
Jack has authored hundreds of papers dealing with GIS technology, published in journals and conference reports in such diverse fields as photogrammetry, computer science planning, environmental science and cartography.
Jack is recognized in both academia and industry as a leader of and an authority on the GIS field. With 25 years experience, he and his firm are pioneers in digital cartography and natural resource mapping.
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