Petter Pilesjö
Professor
Integration of geomatics in research & development
Author
Summary, in English
The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) within the society as well as in academic work has increased rapidly over the last decades. This also means that Geomatics has started to create problems in both academic and non-academic worlds. Firstly because it bridges borders that have been in place for a long time and secondly because Geomatics, or rather the basic concepts of Geomatics, is increasingly used. In the eighties it was natural that departments dealing with Geomatics were located at technical or natural faculties. Today this is not the case anymore. Spatial analysis has proven to be important in all disciplines. We can find examples of strong GIS units in e.g. humanities (archaeology, human ecology, language studies etc.), social science (human and economic geography, economy, economic history etc.) and medicine (social and occupational medicine, epidemiology etc.). This means that Geomatics is part of research in most disciplines and that many users are facing the issues that are related to the integration of Geomatics in their field. Geomatics is also used frequently in interdisciplinary settings and this also generates specific issues. In this paper some of these issues are discussed and suggestions are made how to avoid or reduce problems. The need for human capacity building, regarding the technique (including possibilities and limitations) as well as applications in "non-technical domains", low cost, accessible, data, a defined policy/strategy regarding Geomatics, as well as a well functioning unit (preferably centralized supporting other units) of Geomatics within the organisation are stressed.
Department/s
- Centre for Geographical Information Systems (GIS Centre)
- Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)
Publishing year
2009
Language
English
Publication/Series
Sapiens
Volume
2
Issue
2
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Institut Veolia Environnement
Topic
- Physical Geography
- Other Computer and Information Science
- Other Social Sciences
Keywords
- Development
- Geographical information systems
- Geomatic
- Research
- Society
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1993-3800