Intersection of GI and IT Spatial Databases Max J. Egenhofer National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis Department of Spatial Information Science and Engineering University of Maine
Outline A reflection on GI IT Some technical challenges Some community challenges Evolution of GI and its implications Conclusions and near-term success measures
GI IT Geospatial Information Information Technology = ?
GI IT Geospatial Information Information Technology = ?
GI IT Geospatial Information Information Technology = Information
GI IT GI IT
GI IT GI IT
GI IT GI IT
GI IT GI IT
GI IT GI IT
GI IT GI IT
GI IT GI IT
GI IT GI IT
GI IT GI IT
GI IT IT GI
GI IT IT GI
GI IT IT GI
GI IT GI IT
GI IT GI IT
GI IT Geospatial Information Information Technology = Information
GI IT Geospatial Information Information Technology = Information
GI IT Geospatial Information Information Science = Information
GI IT Geospatial Information Systems Information Science = Information
GI IT Geospatial Information Systems Information Science = Information
GI IT Geospatial Information Science Information Science = Information
GI IT Geospatial Information Science Information Science = Information
GI IT Geospatial Information Science Computer Science = Information
GI IT Geospatial Information Science Computer Science = Information
Geosptial Informtion Science GI IT Geosptial Informtion Science Computer Science = Information
Geosal Inftion Science GI IT Geosal Inftion Science Computer Science = Information
GI IT Geal Infn Science Computer Science = Information
GI IT Ge In Science Computer Science = Information
GI IT GIScience Computer Science = Information
GI IT GIScience Computer Science = Information
GI IT GIEngineering Computer Science = Information
What are these Information Technologies? GI* IT What are these Information Technologies?
Information Technologies Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
Information Technologies Cell phones
Information Technologies Portable computing devices
Information Technologies Digital cameras
Information Technologies Digital video cameras
Information Technologies Miniaturization of Location Devices - GPS receivers - Gyroscopes
Information Technologies chem bio Microsensors
Opportunities Mobile geospatial computing New gadgets GI for the masses Tighter integration of data acquisition with spatial databases Real-time 3D model building Spatialized video Augmented reality Sensor-based GISs
Impediments Low wireless bandwidth Lack of appropriate models for spatio-temporal fields
Database Challenges Massively parallel data acquisition Intelligent pre-fetch strategies Generation of incremental spatial query results and their presentation
What are these parts of computer science? GI* CS What are these parts of computer science?
The CS Foundation for GI* GIS User Interfaces Graphical Presentation Spatial Reasoning Semantics Geometric Calculations Very Large Data Sets Programming in the Large/Gigantic Complex Operations Data Transfer
The CS Foundation for GI* Human-Computer Interaction GIS User Interfaces Graphical Presentation Graphics AI Spatial Reasoning Information Retrieval Semantics Geometric Calculations Computational Geometry Very Large Data Sets Database Systems Software Engineering Programming in the Large/Gigantic Algorithms Complex Operations Networking Data Transfer
Opportunities
Opportunities Human-Computer Interaction Graphics AI Information Retrieval Computational Geometry Database Systems Database Systems Networking LBS Software Engineering Algorithms Networking
Human-Computer Interaction Opportunities Human-Computer Interaction In-situ terrain interaction Graphics AI Information Retrieval Database Systems Computational Geometry Computational Geometry Database Systems Software Engineering Algorithms Networking
Human-Computer Interaction Opportunities Database Systems Human-Computer Interaction Human-Computer Interaction Graphics Gadgets AI Information Retrieval Computational Geometry Database Systems Software Engineering Algorithms Networking
Impediments
Impediments Human-Computer Interaction GIS User Interfaces Graphical Presentation Graphics AI Spatial Reasoning Information Retrieval Semantics Geometric Calculations Computational Geometry Very Large Data Sets Database Systems Software Engineering Programming in the Large/Gigantic Algorithms Complex Operations Networking Data Transfer
Impediments Human-Computer Interaction GIS User Interfaces Graphical Presentation Graphics AI Spatial Reasoning Information Retrieval Semantics Geometric Calculations Computational Geometry Very Large Data Sets Database Systems Software Engineering Programming in the Large/Gigantic Algorithms Complex Operations Networking
Impediments Human-Computer Interaction GIS User Interfaces Graphical Presentation Graphics AI Spatial Reasoning Information Retrieval Semantics Geometric Calculations Computational Geometry Very Large Data Sets Database Systems Software Engineering Programming in the Large/Gigantic Algorithms Algorithms Complex Operations Networking
Challenges Join forces Explore common concepts Learn to understand different terminologies Develop interfaces Exploit the best of two (or more) worlds
Will GI* remain the same as we know it today?
Evolution of Geospatial Information Phase 1: Abundance of geospatial data • Enabled by geospatial data acquisition technologies • Geospatial data are unconventional, need special treatment • Geospatial databases are often very large • Geospatial data often linked with time-critical data • Analysis primarily through geometric operations
Evolution of Geospatial Information Phase 2: Implicit geospatial information • Geospatial descriptions in text form • Enabled by the Web and (digital) archives • Spatial reasoning without explicit geometry • Improved understanding through graphical summaries of text
Evolution of Geospatial Information Phase 3: From geospatial to spatial • Spatial (and spatio-temporal) similarities across vastly different scales (from DNA to galaxies) • Ontological differences • Need to capture semantics comprehensively • Analysis requires geometry plus meaning • Opportunity for GI to play a key role
Result: The Spatial Web Vast amount of heterogeneous spatial data sources • Needs dramatically better support for richly structured ontologies in databases • Ability to query and integrate across different ontologies • Spatial information as the integrator of data
Evolution of Geospatial Information Phase 4: Space as an organizational metaphor in information science • Dealing with spatial information provides a meaningful vocabulary • Metaphorical use of spatial terminology • The ease of communicating spatially • Analytical power of spatial reasoning • Foundation for a new information theory?
Result Ubiquitous Spatial Databases
GI IT GIScience Computer Science = Information
GI IT GIScience Computer Science = Information
GI IT SIScience Computer Science = Information
GI IT Se In Science Computer Science = Information
GI IT Seal Infn Science Computer Science = Information
GI IT Seosal Inftion Science Computer Science = Information
GI IT Seotial In formtion Science Computer Science = Information
GI IT Spatial Information Science Computer Science = Information
Conclusions Spatial databases has been at the forefront of GI CS for over 10 years New challenges are relative to semantics LBS is the short-term future of applied GI IT More profound issues in the role of spatial in the overall organization of information Needs joined forces, within CS and across relevant disciplines
Near-Term Success for GI IT Regular GI articles in Communications of the ACM and IEEE Computer Stronger CS participation in UCGIS Strong CS participation in GIScience 2002 Concentrated Federal Funding programs in GIScience and Engineering (from CISE to GISE or SISE) ACM SIGGIS