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| navigate: home: magazine: spring 2001: article | |
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WebGIS invites participants to ‘Join the Revolution’ By Krista Weidner | ||||||
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Join the Revolution” was the theme of the second annual WebGIS conference, held at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. Sponsored by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, the conference brought together the leading developers, users and researchers in Web-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS). About 175 participants gathered, traveling from as far as British Columbia and California, to learn about the latest in WebGIS technology, as well as how to be part of the revolution. WebGIS, which refers to geographic information systems that are served over the Internet, is a gateway technology into a rapidly growing field, explained Dr. Todd Bacastow, senior research associate and assistant director of the Environment Institute in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Traditional geographic information systems, wireless technologies, handheld computing and the Internet are converging so that geographic information can be delivered anywhere at any time. WebGIS supplies the technology to use a standard PC or a handheld computer with a wireless Internet connection, such as a Web phone, to access all kinds of information. “The field of GIS itself is relatively new,” Bacastow said. “It has its roots in the 1960s, although the basic concepts of cartography and mapping go back hundreds of years. But in spite of its relative youth, GIS has had a far-reaching impact in the surveying and engineering sciences, as well as in business, environmental management and planning. Today, GIS has grown into a multibillion-dollar technology industry. And now, with the merging of GIS and Internet technology, I’d say we’re right on the edge of a major paradigm change.” Traditional GIS, Bacastow explained, keeps geographic information and processes locked into isolated channels. WebGIS is breaking out of those channels to create new geospatial systems. We’ve seen the beginnings of these technologies in the navigational systems installed in some of the newer cars. Today, these navigational systems are evolving into more streamlined, handheld devices. Cell phones will continue to evolve as well, he noted. In the future, every cell phone will have the technology that transforms it into a “personal spatial assistant” — a device that knows where you are and can tailor information specifically to your location. Such a tool could come in handy in almost every imaginable way, from affording effortless pizza delivery to alerting tourists in an unfamiliar city to high-crime areas. Emergency services could use WebGIS technology for faster response, and real estate agents could provide information about a house to someone driving by. When you lose your car in a parking lot, your personal spatial assistant could navigate you back. “This is not Twilight Zone,” Bacastow said. “This is going to happen, and the technology will be available to tens of millions of users. Eventually, it will become commonplace, and it will change the way we do business. Not long ago, I flipped on Fox News, and they were doing a feature on geospatial technology. A guy was walking down the street, and he walked past a McDonald’s Restaurant. A message popped up on his cell phone, which was a Web phone. The message read, ‘You just walked by McDonald’s — come on in for a half-price Big Mac.’” WebGIS technology, Bacastow added, creates a demand for new services, new responsibilities and new professional proficiencies — in other words, a new market. To make the most of this changing paradigm and emerging new marketplace, it will be crucial for business, government and academia to work together. Fostering this collaboration and bridging barriers was the goal of the WebGIS 2000 conference. “It turns out that in terms of participation, we had a good mix,” Bacastow said. “It was divided pretty evenly into thirds, from business, government and the academic community. There are a number of major vendors in the GIS realm, and two of them — ESRI and Intergraph — were represented at the conference. I was also pleased that we had several smaller businesses attending. These small, high-tech entrepreneurial firms are often where most of the innovation happens, and I’d like to see Penn State engage these companies and encourage that kind of cutting-edge technology.” The WebGIS 2000 conference included sessions hosted by major industry representatives, technology seminars, panel discussions and user presentations, as well as classes covering a broad range of technical issues. A number of the classes that were taught by vendors provided a double benefit. Participants gained knowledge, and the vendors had the opportunity to highlight their expertise. User presentations were varied, including the U.S. Census Bureau Web Mapping Initiative, WebGIS for Agricultural Purposes, Using GIS to Track the West Nile Virus, Geospatial Visualization in the Palm of Your Hand, and An Internet-based GIS for Road/Rail Conditions and Rapid Routing. Plans for WebGIS 2001 are already under way. “This year’s conference was more focused and better attended by the business sector than last year’s,” Bacastow said. “Last year, I think people came because they were curious. This year, we really tried to give people the tools to exploit the benefits of Web-based geospatial technologies. The next conference will get into geowireless technologies even more, and there’s the potential to multiply the interest in WebGIS. “I think one of our jobs here at Penn State is to help open people’s eyes to emerging technologies and how they can impact our society,” he continued. “In terms of outreach, events such as this conference benefit all sectors involved — business, the academic community, government and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” An outreach program of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences | |||||
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