Always interesting are the predictions that pundits have for the future of GIS. I’ve started to collect GIS predictions and list them here. The GIS predictions for the future are listed by the year in reverse chronological order.
The Future of GIS is in the Cloud
Digital Map Products, a GIS data company, sent out a press release in September of 2011 that made the prediction that GIS processes are moving into the cloud.
In the past year we’ve seen Cloud Computing come on the scene in a big way, revolutionizing how local government implements and uses technology. GIS (Geographic Information System) has especially benefited, as the cloud removes many of its traditional challenges, making it more affordable, faster to deploy, more widely available, and easier to use. The cloud revolution is here and Cloud GIS is a must-have technology for cities of all sizes.
Future of GIS from GCN
Government Computer News proclaims that the future of GIS is “crowds, clouds … and 4-D”.
“It’s crowd and cloud,” said Mark Reichardt, president of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), a nonprofit standards organization. “We’re seeing this movement of geospatial and location-service functionality seamlessly into the business decision cycle and business tools and consumer services.”
The development of geospatial technologies is also heading more mobile driven by consumers with GPS enabled smart phones and the push by governmental agencies to move their applications away from back-room offices and onto mobile phones.
“GIS is being exposed on the Web, through browsers and through mobile phones,” said Jack Dangermond, ESRI’s president. “That’s making it more accessible and usable. It will spread through whole new audiences. Executives who want to look at sophisticated geographic information and do sophisticated geographic analysis can do so through a mobile device.”
Read more: GIS’ future is with crowds, clouds … and 4-D – GCN
Jack Dangermond on the Future of Mapping Technology
Computerworld has a July 2009 interview with Jack Dangermond who founded Esri forty years ago. The article quizzes Dangermond on his vision for GIS, why GIS should be used in business, the evolution of GIS, and what his original goal for ESRI was when he founded it in 1969.
Read More: The Grill: GIS pioneer Jack Dangermond on the future of mapping technologies – Computerworld
The Future of GIS According to Roger Tomlinson
The February 2009 volume of GEOconnexion International has a short interview with Roger Tomlison entitled Roger Tomlinson on GIS History and Future (PDF) that takes the reader back in time to review the overlay methodology that birthed the concept of GIS and then looks forward for Tomlinson’s take on developments in GIS over the next 10 years. In the interview Tomlinson made the following predictions for the future of GIS:
- Hardware will become faster and cheaper
- GIS software will become easier to use and more robust
- Universities will increase their GIS course offerings
- GIS will become an important tool in crafting national policies and will be a part of cabinet-level debate.
- GIS professionals will become a part of those national level discussions
- High-level military personnel will become versed in GIS and its capabilities
