If we lost all the technology, would there still be geospatial insight?

Jeg har tit tænkt det samme som i indlægget nedenfor. Tag al viden fra os vedr. vores moderne samfund (ikke kun GIS) og vi ville sidde tilbage i stenaldermandens hule. Den viden som vi omgiver os med i form af hvorledes ting skabes er en fælles viden. Jeg ved f.eks. ikke hvordan min kaffekop er fremstillet eller hvordan min LCD skærm fungerer eller hvordan og hvorfra mine sokker kommer - det er der bare. Forestil jer at hele verden fik en fælles re-boot ... men at man fandt en gammel back up af Google med én kørende tilkoblet PC. Ville det være nok til at vi som samfund kunne nå fortidens højder?

I have often wondered like in the comment below how we would manage without GIS. But GIS not all what if all knowledge was taken away from us where would we be ? Back in the Flintstone cave I'm afraid. The knowledge we surround us selves with in shape of everyday things they are just there. But I don't know how it got there in the first place - few do - how is my coffee mug made? How does my LCD monitor work? From where and again how was my socks made? I don't know and I don't care. But should I? Image if we all where taken away any and all the above things - if the world got itself a 'Microsoft' reboot. Would a Google backup with one running pc be enough to get us back on track?

/Sik

If we lost all the technology, would there still be geospatial insight?

The purpose of this question is to step away from our computers and realize that we’ve gained an improved outlook from the application of geospatial technology that doesn’t rely entirely on the underpinning technologies. And yet we also need to appreciate that we’re so much better off having had a number of years of geospatial technology that has allowed us to amass knowledge and has let the toolset evolve.

We’re still working hard to fulfill the full promise of geospatial technology, with fewer barriers over time, but still a ways to go to complete the vision. While there’s never a real end to development with such a fundamental tool, there are holes to be filled. Most of those holes have been discussed extensively, and are awaiting a good deal of development to solve some sticky issues.

It’s interesting to consider what the tools have brought us, what we couldn’t do without them, and to ponder what it would be like to start fresh from scratch.

What We Contribute

The creation of geographic information systems fostered a systematic approach to geographic problem solving, but the evolution of the technology has relied as much on our understanding of what these tools can do as their actual function.

Geographic information systems are a rather young technology, with systems that combine all the components that we now depend upon reaching commercial use in the last 15 years. The idea of the technology goes back a bit further, but the first commercially available GIS product to include a database component was released around 1994. It’s important to think back beyond those days to see what we now know in such a short space of time.

The contributions of geospatial technology are enormous in terms of the combination of knowledge about our Earth. But the underlying thought process to combine different types of spatial data for different insights isn’t a technology problem, it’s a problem of data aggregation and spatial analysis. The desire and intent to uncover answers to geographic problems is a necessary ingredient that can’t rely solely on the machine. You first have to have the desire to answer a question, collect the right data at the right scale, and then aggregate and analyze the data to gain insight.

Technology Provides Essential Insight

One incredible thing about geospatial technology is that it allows you to uncover insight into things that aren’t readily apparent through human observation. We combine imagery, geospatial data and processes into the laboratory space of GIS to pull things apart, and analyze and unlock details that we couldn’t know otherwise.

Many of the geospatial problems that we tackle don’t even start with an assumed outcome, it’s the tools of geospatial technology that unlock meaning. This is particularly true when we correlate information from multiple perspectives.

Without geospatial tools, some of the insight of spatial analysis could be tabulated is some fashion for some sort of linear report with graphs and charts and outcomes. But what would be missing is the compelling map-based visual and simulation that can display a dynamic process in a way that helps you understand the nuances of a phenomenon. And gone would be the time-saving efficiencies of the digital process, replaced presumably by an army of analysts with slide rules and drafting tables.

Starting from Scratch

I’d hate to think about starting the industry fresh again, particularly in light of all of the great data that we’ve been able to collect. Early on the vision of GIS suffered greatly because there wasn’t available data in order to address the problems that the tool seemed best suited to address. These days, the amount of data has grown exponentially, and the quality of the data is much better and consistent for broader geographies. We now have a much better start on addressing problems, with much fewer frustrations.

It won’t be long before we have better fusion between airborne and spaceborne sensors for an easily updated digital reality. The much more readily accessible imagery and other data will provide broader coverage and greater inputs. It’s taken us a great deal of time and billions of dollars to build out the sensor networks and the technologies that take this information and make actionable information out of it.

The industry has evolved nicely, and we’re at a very exciting time where our access to data from disparate systems holds a great promise for greater insight. It would be extremely tough to go back to static maps that can’t be updated and that freeze one view in time without the added benefit of analysis and data manipulation.

While we mustn’t rely to heavily on technology, leaving room for our own creative approaches, we can certainly be thankful that the technology exists, and that it’s been around for some time.

Read what Jeff Thurston has to say on this topic here.

Source: http://vector1media.com/spatialsustain/?p=883