The Future of GIS
james fee
rsparch.com
Where
Next?

GIS
is…

everywhere!

and
GIS
is…

difficult to use

why is
it this way?

Where we are today?
Proprietary Systems
ESRI, MapInfo, Autodesk, Oracle Spatial
Open Source
MapServer, PostGIS, GDAL/OGR, OpenLayers, QGIS
Service Based GIS
Google Maps API, Microsoft Virtual Earth, OpenStreetMap

Proprietary Systems
ESRI ArcGIS Desktop (ArcView, ArcInfo)
ArcGIS Server (ArcIMS, ArcSDE)
ArcGIS Online (Services)

Open Source
Web Mapping
MapServer
GeoServer
MapGuide Open Source
OpenLayers
PostGIS
Desktop Applications
GRASS GIS
OSSIM
Quantum GIS (QGIS)
gvSIG
uDig
Geospatial Libraries
FDO
GDAL/OGR
GEOS
GeoTools
MetaCRS

Service Based GIS

Web APIs

Stacks
Microsoft
Linux Desktop
Windows
Perl, PHP
Microsoft
or Python
Exchange
Microsoft MySQL or
SharePoint PostgeSQL
Microsoft SQL
Apache
Server 2008
Microsoft
Linux Server
Server 2008

GIS Stacks
QGIS or
ArcGIS Desktop
uDig
STOVEPIPE
ArcGIS Explorer OpenLayers
ArcGIS Web MapServer or
Service APIs GeoServer
PostgreSQL w/
ArcGIS Server
PostGIS
ArcSDE
Linux
(Geodatabase)

Mixing Stacks Google Earth
Google Maps
ArcGIS Server Microsoft VE
ArcSDE ArcGIS Desktop
(Geodatabase)
PostgreSQL w/
OpenLayers
PostGIS
Microsoft
Server 2008 Microsoft
Windows
Open architectures, combined with an dual vendor strategy
keeps options (both technical and budgetary) open.

Neogeography
Databases
OGC
Interoperability
Crowdsourcing

Neogeography
Mixing Silos
Geographical techniques and tools used for
personal activities or for utilization by a
non-expert group of users; not formal or analytical.
Andrew Turner

VGI
Michael Goodchild @USCB
Volunteered Geographic Information

Crowdsourcing

Interoperability

The ability to use, manage
and share spatial data….
which eliminates
barriers for data sharing

• Efficiently extract spatial
data from a desired
datastore
• Transform it into the
requested format and data
model
• Load it into a target system
and present it to end users

Spatial ETL
Extract
T ransform
L oad

Databases

What Database?
Proprietary Systems
Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2
Open Source
PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite
Service Based
Google BigTable, Amazon SimpleDB, Microsoft SQL Server Web Edition

SpatiaLite:
Open source
OGC Simple Features for SQL
Supports standard WKT and WKB formats
SQLite database is simply a file

Open Geospatial Consortium
• Standards Organization
• Responsible for OpenGIS Standards
• WMS, WFS, KML, GML, WCS, …

xml-based (GML)
3D city models
web services using WFS

CityGML

Where are
we headed?

Pay As You Go GIS
Pay for what you use
Enable ArcInfo for
ArcView users
Pick and choose the
best solutions

Cloud-based
Services
Google Data APIs
Amazon Web Services
Microsoft Azure
Google App Engine

Server Appliances

Sharing of data

GIS
Developement

Old and Busted

New Hotness

New GIS
Frameworks

JavaScript APIs

Flex and Silverlight
APIs

.NET and Java ADFs

Ruby and Python

Model Builders

Using Open
Source with
ESRI

OpenLayers and ESRI
• JavaScript Library
• No server-side dependencies
• Free Software, developed for and by the Open
Source software community

OpenLayers Basics

Example: Identify
• Instantiate Layers to Map Canvas

Example: Identify
• Create Identify Task

Example: Identify
• Create Identify Callback

Code
http://www.mkgeomatics.com/apps/REST_Dev/

PostgreSQL and ArcSDE

ESRI Servers with Linux
• Support for RedHat Enterprise and SUSE
• Data cannot be stored as Personal
Geodatabase
• All web based management
(can remotely manage via
ArcCatalog on Windows)
• 64-bit support (ArcSDE)

Open Standards

James Fee
james.fee@rsparch.com
Twitter: @cageyjames