The Future of Spatial Data and Society Summary of a Workshop (1997) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
SCENARIOS
SCENARIOS
Pages 27-36
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 27... ...
The market scenario extends current tendencies toward commodification of information' which restricts access to inforrnationto the more powerful. The bigbrothersce ~Michael Wegener and Ian Masser, "Brave New GIS Worlds," in Ian Masser, Heather Campbell, and Max Craglia?
|
From page 28... ...
TREND SCENARIO The trend scenario is characterized by incremental diffusion of information systems along the lines experienced in the past? effectively envisioning a future that might result if current trends continue.
|
From page 29... ...
At the private citizen level, data transmission service providers might continue in corner storefronts' expanding on the current services provided by Kinko's and similar vendors. Many positive implications can be predicted for stakeholders, a class including state and local government agencies (i.e., nonfederal)
|
From page 30... ...
The best defense against these negative consequences would be to ensure that robust curricula for spatial literacy are installed in schools at all levels of education. MARKET SCENARIO Under the market scenario, current tendencies toward commodif~cation of information accelerate rapidly.
|
From page 31... ...
The indicators for this scenario follow progressive steps toward privatization from today's level of public control. Each item in the list below brings society closer to privatization.
|
From page 32... ...
Spatial information of any commercial value would be repeatedly encoded because there would be little commercial incentive for sharing or interoperability. Proprietary databases would vary in reliability, and incompatibility would become a common protection against data theft.
|
From page 33... ...
Vehicle tracking and personal positional tracking would be used to monitor daily movements (of all sorts, from consumerism through journey-to-work) , justified by the need for societal protection and alerts in the event of environmental catastrophes, as well as to predict and respond to demands for improved transportation networks and infrastructure.
|
From page 34... ...
They also state that "... spatial information which is freely available to everybody is intrinsically dangerous, whereas in the hands of the corporate state it can guide a society to achieving its highest economic potential." As positive consequences, personal location devices would likely enhance public safety and deter incentives to violent crime.
|
From page 35... ...
As local selfgovernance and local planning reemerged as a central forum of political debate, local government GTS became even more important in the form of decision support systems for local land use, transport, and environmental planning. in particular, the need to redirect urban development towards sustainability gave an unexpected boost to local government GIS as it became apparent that environmental analysis in fields such as air pollution, noise propagation, vegetation, wildlife, or microclimate required a more disaggregate spatial scale than conventional aggregate methods" (Wegener end Masser, 1996~.
|
From page 36... ...
The negative consequences relate to the possibilities for local isolation and reluctance to preserve vertical and horizontal integration of data and decision-making tools. Wegener and Masser also indicate that participatory planning may become excessively time consuming because of increased awareness and active participation.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.