A decade of innovation

1. Dr R.J. (Bob) Williams [Retired]
Cartographer
Topographic Surveyor
Geographer
Geospatial Scientist
QUALIFICATIONS – Professional
BA Computing Studies (Canberra CAE)
MSc (Cartography) (U Wisconsin)
PhD (UNSW)
QUALIFICATIONS – Trade
Topographic Surveyor
Photogrammetrist
Cartographic Technician
Videre Parare Est
An Odyssey
by
DR BOB’S VISION AND ODYSSEY
Towards
A Virtual World and an Intelligent [Artificial] Cartographer
The 1980s … …
A Decade of Innovation … …
… … with Experience and Vision … …
2008 photo

2. So, in 1980 I wrote the first draft of a paper titled Who or what is DES?”.
The abstract to the paper reads “an emergency situation, whether it be military in nature or
a natural disaster, often tests the speed of response of sub-units of an organisation.
Planning, staffing, coordinating, directing and controlling decisions are required in a
limited time frame”.
The paper examined the feasibility of developing a computer-based system that I called DES
(Defence Enquiry System).
VISIONARY IDEAS – DES
Types of queries, include:
 Show the location of 4 Fd Regt, RAA.
 List all airfields capable of taking C130 aircraft and located in 1MD.
 What is the status (trafficability) of the Bruce Highway between Tully and Cairns today?
Applications include:
 Route charting and assessment (land, maritime and air)
 Terrain analysis and site selection
 Shortest path algorithms
 Imagery, e.g. Orthophotomaps replaced by digital images
 Object recognition
It might be feasible that digital terrestrial cameras of the future could be used to identify features.
In December 1976 I was given the opportunity to undertake Long Term
Schooling at the Canberra College of Advanced Education (CCAE) by the
Director of Survey of Survey-Army (COL Jim Stedman). I was asked, on
completion of my course, to write a discussion paper on where I thought the
Royal Australian Survey Corps should be heading by DSVY-A
(COL John Hillier).
This paper was to provide a vision for the future.
Photo taken in December 1979 of [then] SSGT Bob Williams
Military symbols produced using TEKTRONIX PLOT10
software
Following 1970’s decade and hearing and talking to its Visionaries came a decade of opportunity
- A decade of innovation!
This directive, supplemented by exposure to 1970’s visionaries, provided my guidance for the next quarter of a century PLUS !
Towards a Virtual World and an Intelligent [Artificial] Cartographer
CCAE
RASVY
2

3. Visionary presenters
& presentations
Academic theses,
awards, etc
Studies & reviews
& scientific reports
Journal
publications
Conference & seminar
Presentations
Concept papers
& initiatives
1980 1985 1990
American futurist Ben Bova [1989]
"I don't think of what I do as science fiction, I think of it as
historical reports of events that haven't happened yet”
Automated cartography:
the next development
Evolution in cartography:
data intelligence
Analysis of the road
transportation network
Geographic information:
aspects of phenomenology and cognition
Analysis of Geographic Information:
A cognitive approach
Enquiry systems for the interrogation of
infrastructure in areas of large geographic extent
Who or what is DES?
[Disaster Enquiry System]
An overview of a cartographic
mapping package
ASTIS: An Information
Structuring Approach
Enquiry systems for the
interrogation of infrastructure
Automated cartography with
navigational applications
Who or what is DES?
1980’s Timeline
YAMPI
MISTI
ANU GIS ADFA GISWIMS
3

4. Who or what is DES?
[Defence Enquiry System]
1980
Typical object recognition enquiries might take the form:
• What is the feature 5KM north-west of the junction of
road A and road B?
• Give details of this building (pointed to on a screen).
• What is this feature (pointed to on a screen)?
Examples of these types of queries may take the form:
• Show a base map bounded by 20OS, 25OS, 130OE and 132OE
and highlight the bores.
• Locate and list details of the nearest airfield to
the town of Kyogle, NSW
• Plot all roads between Dubbo NSW and Bourke NSW to a
distance of 100KM from the centre line
A DEFENCE ENQUIRY SYSTEM (DES)
LT R.J.Williams
1980
The world is moving so fast these
days that the man who says it can’t
be done is generally interrupted by
someone doing it!
Elbert Hubbard
Circa 1890
In December 1976 I was given the
opportunity to undertake Long Term
Schooling at the Canberra College of
Advanced Education (CCAE) by the
Director of Survey-Army (Colonel Jim
Stedman).
I was asked, on completion of my
course, to write a discussion paper
on where I thought that the Corps
should be heading by DSVY-A (Colonel
John Hillier).
This paper is a re-typed copy of the
original paper with scanned copies of
the original illustrations.Photo taken in December 1979 of (then) SSGT Bob
Williams.
Military symbols produced using Tektronix PLOT
10 software.
4

5. An overview of a
cartographic
mapping package
R.J.Williams
Bachelor of Arts
in Computing Studies
(CCAE)
AMAIC
CARTOGRAPHY
Volume 11 No.3 March 1980
1980
An overview of a cartographic
mapping package
This is an overview of a cartographic mapping package developed at the Canberra
College of Advanced Education. The package demonstrates educational and
navigational applications and was produced for the semester unit Special Studies in
Computing in the course for the award of Bachelor of Arts in Computing Studies.
Vision – CARTOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
MAPPACK Communications – Appendix 1
RUN MAPPACK; MAXPROCTIME = 30;
MAXIOTIME = 20
#Collect any printout from Print 6
#Running #? *Mappack*
Cartographic Mapping Package
Types of maps available include ….
Atlas
Strip map
Pre-history mapping
Distance to coastline
Which would you prefer?
ATLAS
Enter region
- If World type WORLD
- - Strip map of type A TO B
DARWIN
Enter projection number
0 … Orthographic 1 … Stereographic
2 … Gnomonic 3 … Postel
(Azimuthal Equidistant)
4 … Perspective 5 … Mercator
6 … Lambert (Cylindrical Equal Area)
7 … Bonne 8 … Sanson-Flamsteed
9 … Mollweide
3
You may nominate your scale options:
You may nominate your … Own scale
Computer printout size … A4 size
Maximum available size Which would you like?
A4
Map scale is 20,000,000
Is oblique aspect required?
YES
Place centred on?
DARWIN
Postel Equidistant Projection
Enter radial distance in 1000KM (max 20)
5
Map scale is now 1:75,000,000
Are distance range rings required?
YES
The following options are available
Enter YES if required …
Geographic data …
YES
Geographic graticule …
YES
Nomenclature …
NO
Legend …
YES
***MAPPACK running**
5

6. YAMPI – A digital mapping experience!
1980
6
3665-III STRICKLAND [1:50000]
was the first map published using
the AUTOMAP I system in 1978.
Compilation was by digital
photogrammetric methods 1976.
YAMPI JOG [1:250000]
The first, and only ever, !;250,000 map -
SE51-3 YAMPI - was produced from source
digital data of the 1:50,000 maps compiled
by stereo-photogrammetric techniques
during June – August 1980.
MAP GENERATION
The YAMPI: A Digital Mapping Experience, described the area; discussed the map production describing the available source data, detailing
production time limitations and method of production; analyzed various aspects observed during the production including the integrity of the data bank,
cost of data manipulation processes, the effect of management and operational procedures and the quality of the graphic; and, finally examined some
future applications and recommendations.
Future applications include:
 Command, control &
communication systems
Infrastructure directories
Radar simulation

7. Automated cartography with
navigational applications
1980
Vision – CARTOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Projections, transformations, spherical trigonometry
Natural language interactive communication
Query languages
Recursive & heuristic algorithms
Automated
Cartography
with
Navigational
Applications
R.J.Williams MAIC
7

8. MISTI – A Management Information System for Topographic Intelligence!
1982
I rewrote my mapping software
in FORTRAN77 for use on a
PDP11/70 computer. I called my
software MISTI (Management
Information for Topographic
Intelligence) and, as I was IC
RAAF Charting Troop, focused
on trying to automate EN
ROUTE Chart base map
production.
My vision was that it would be
possible to automatically
generate en route charts
along with relational
database access to
information contained in
RAAF EN ROUTE
SUPPLEMENTS and that
the route should be
along a great circle.
8

9. WIMS – World (or Williams) Interactive Mapping System
1983
I again rewrote my mapping
software in FORTRAN77 this
time for use by the Joint
Intelligence Organisation (JIO)
for use on a HP2100 series
computer.
I called my software WIMS
(World Interactive
Mapping Software).
Vision – World (or
Williams) Interactive
Mapping System that could
automatically extract
information from a world
data base determined by
place names and search
criteria.
Applications would include
producing background
maps in normal, radial and
oblique rectangle formats
anywhere in the world.
9

10. 1982 - 85
1982 - Digital Topographic Database – A structured and formatted collection of sets of random accessed files
organised into evaluated Military, Geographic and Intelligence Data (MGID) available to meet the needs and
requirements of the user – command and control systems, route classification, cross-country going, engineer
intelligence data, resources data, meteorological data. - US Exchange Officer Major David Bowen, USA
1984 - Future Applications of a Topographic Database -
 Permit the Transportation Officer to point to a bridge and have the system return the width, allowable load and
structural components of the bridge.
 Permit the Medical Officer to point to all hospitals in an area and have the number of beds currently available.
 Permit the Commander to point to a geographical area and have the system return enemy unit designations,
locations, strength and equipment status, and have the system designed to permit data base update so that the
information returned is current and accurate.
Expectations are high that digital terrain models have a significant role to play in a number of diverse areas of
interest to the Defence Force. Areas of immediate impact are command, control and communications; artillery
and other weapons systems; training, simulation and war gaming; terrain analysis; manned and unmanned
navigation systems; and map production. - US Exchange Officer Major John Charland, USA
1985 - Future Applications of a Topographic Database - Perhaps the most significant military breakthrough
related to computer technology of the future will be the rendering of integrated circuitry to enemy sabotage. This,
combined with high speed, secure data communications to the field, will permit the transfer of vital information about
the terrain and its effects in real time to the ground commander currently operating on that terrain. Intervisibility and
mobility computations and realistic computer-generated views will be components of this information.
A more profound area of application is expected in the field of airborne navigation systems. It will include both
military and civilian aircraft, particularly low-flying manned and unmanned weapons systems. In all these cases,
DTMs will afford real time information about the terrain below and the effects of distant terrain on the aircraft
whether it is using terrain matching for navigation or making use of natural cover to avoid enemy detection - US
Exchange Officer Major Doug Campbell, USA
RASVY
Royal Australian Survey Corps
– Army Survey Regiment - Technical Development Cell
FORTUNA VILLA, BENDIGO
10

11. Who or what is
DES?
Robert Williams MAIC
Royal Australian Survey Corps
CARTOGRAPHY
Volume 13 No.3 March 1984
1984
An overview of a cartographic
mapping package
An emergency situation, whether it be created by man or be it
a natural disaster, often tests the speed of response of sub-
units of an organisation. Planning, staffing, coordinating,
directing and controlling decisions are required in a limited
time frame.
This paper questions the feasibility of a computer-based
Disaster Enquiry System.
Typical queries might take the form:
 Show the location of major fire-fighting units;
 List all radio stations in South Australia;
 Detail the characteristics of all airfields in Tasmania;
 List all airfields capable of taking cargo aircraft and
located in Queensland;
 Show details of all bridges along the Stuart Highway
between Pine Creek and Katherine;
 What is the weather forecast for the Kimberley Region
tomorrow?
 How much rain has been recorded in Rockhampton in
the last 48 hours?
 What is the status (trafficability) of the Bruce Highway
between Tully and Cairns today?
Some applications which involve processing could be:
 Searching a geographic region for a particular feature
or characteristic;
 Air route charting;
 Sea route charting;
 Route assessment and evaluation;
 Terrain analysis;
 Site selection; and
 Object recognition.
Searching a geographical area. Examples of these types of
queries may take the form:
 Show a base map bounded by 20OS, 25OS, 130OE
and 132OE and highlight the bores.
 Locate and list details of the nearest airfield to the
town of Kyogle, NSW
 Plot all roads between Dubbo NSW and Bourke NSW
to a distance of 100 km from the centre line
 Show a base map of the Pilbara Region highlighting
railways.
Vision – CARTOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
11

12. 1983-85
The Madison WI
experience
During the 1980s the Directors of Survey-Army sponsored long-term schooling both within Australia and
overseas. I was fortunate to be asked if I would like to study at the University of Wisconsin (UW) at
Madison in the USA for the award of Master of Science (Cartography). UW was chosen because it is a
major university; generally ranked in the top twenty in the world. UW’s Geography Department was ranked first
in the US at that time with a number of professors, including Morrison and Meuhrcke, being internationally
recognized as leaders in their fields. When I arrived at Madison in August Morrison had left to take up a
position as Chief Scientist at the National Mapping Division at USGS (United States Geological Survey).
However, a new professor arrived at Madison. He was Dr Nicholas Chrisman coming from Laboratory of
Computer Graphics, Harvard University. Whilst at the UW I participated in several courses lectured by Nick
Chrisman. In addition, being an Australian and having practical experience in digital mapping, Nick invited me
to participate in working groups and forums, either as an observer or as a student and to provide advice on
initiatives.CAPTAIN BOB WILLIAMS 1983
The Dane County Land Records Project - a four year cooperative research venture involving
numerous local, state, and federal agency co-operators. The project has developed, tested, and
evaluated a concept for a multipurpose land information system. Components of this concept have
included reliance on individual data layers maintained by legislatively mandated agencies, and a
common mathematical reference system to permit integration of the layers.
Working Group II of the U.S. National Committee for Digital Cartographic Data Standards –
known as the Data Quality group. The groups’ topics included fidelity of graphical data, metric and
topological, coding reliability, update and other temporal information, lineage of a data set, and
checking procedures used by the producer to verify quality.
During my time at Madison, the UW, coordinated by the Institute of Environmental Studies,
encouraged inter-departmental programs. One of the programs was called “The Modernisation of
Land Records in North America”. This program included a series of half-day seminars,
workshops and guest forums held over a couple of years. I participated in the activity as a graduate
student.
My workload for my MSc included graduate level courses in cartography and land information
systems plus a thesis. The thesis addressed the analysis of infrastructure information in areas of
large geographic extent. Prof. Nick Chrisman, in 1985, was the Chairman of the Technical
Committee of the Auto-Carto 7 Conference and invited me to present my work at Auto-Carto 7 –
Digital Representation of Spatial Knowledge
Prior to working at UW-Madison, Nick Chrisman was a programmer at the Harvard Laboratory for
Computer Graphics (1972-82). While there he participated in the design of prototype GIS
software – ODYSSEY. I did a number of assignments using ODYSSEY.
The importance of addressing Government policy and
legal aspects.
This group introduced the concept of "truth in labeling". Properly
applied, this approach can provide the recipient with the
information needed to determine "fitness for use”.
Data quality description is now referred to at “meta-data.” I
suggested the “concept” of “truth in labeling”.
This program was, probably, developed as part of the University
of Wisconsin’s bid for the establishment of the NCGIA (National
Center for Geographic Information and Analysis).
My project addressed topics associated with future Cartographic
enquiry systems – visualisation, user communication, analysis
via data structure and heuristic algorithms, etc. Research into
complex spatial data structures; user interfaces including the use
of natural language; local and global processing techniques;
concepts of information, knowledge and experience in databases.
That experience influenced my approach to programming for
geographic information system applications
The University of Wisconsin – Madison experience influenced my approach to programming for geographic information system
applications
12

13. Enquiry systems for the
interrogation of infrastructure
1985
Up until now the major effort by organizations which encode data
covering large geographic areas has been in the data base creation
phase with relatively little effort on the use, or interrogation, of that data,
particularly with respect to establishing enquiry systems of
infrastructure. It seems that the next stage in development of systems
will be in specialist enquiry systems, or expert systems – an expert
system being defined as “a set or arrangement of things so related or
connected as to form a unity or whole and being skilful and having
training and knowledge in some special field”. One important application
of an expert system is the interrogation of infrastructure which is
required for relief operations for natural disasters, search and rescue
operations, and also for route planning and charting.
Vision – CARTOGRAPHIC ENQUIRY SYSTEM
Natural language interactive communication
Complex data structures
Local and global processing
Knowledge databases
Enquiry Systems
for the
Interrogation of
Infrastructure
R.J.Williams
University of Wisconsin
Madison
Auto-Carto 7
Washington, DC
March 11-14, 1985
AN AUDACIOUS PRESENTATION
“I have no doubts that Bob Williams had great ideas ahead of the
crowd… Who else would have demonstrated a hierarchical network
path algorithm LIVE at AC7 (live on an Apple II of course…)
From CHRISMAN@washington.edu
Date Wed, Jan 4, 1995 4:17 AM
13

14. Enquiry systems for the
interrogation of infrastructure in
areas of large geographic extent
1985
Definition of extent and use of infrastructure
Determination of geographic
extent of applications
Planning functions investigated
using case studies
Different styles of communication
Prediction and tactical planning
examined using complex heuristic
applications
This research examined the feasibility of developing enquiry systems for the interrogation of
infrastructure through areas of large geographic extent. The study focused two distinct
components of enquiry systems; one dealing with the examination of infrastructure applications
and the other dealing with user communication modes. The feasibility of designing enquiry
systems was examined via the use of four case studies; each one dealing with a different type of
application at varying degrees of detail. If the case studies were examined out of context, they
might be viewed as being unrelated. But these apparently different topics were related in this
research through the use of the scope of infrastructure concepts.
ENQUIRY SYSTEMS FOR THE
INTERROGATION
OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN AREAS OF
LARGE GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT
Robert John Williams
14

15. ASTIS: An information
structuring approach
1986
The Royal Australian Survey Corps is experiencing a growth in
the amount of topographic data that it is producing. Increased
needs in topographic maps and a requirement for a range of new
digital products has contributed to this growth.
RASVY investigated a system that records mapping aspects and
enables more informative reporting and interrogation
capabilities than previously possible. The Army Survey
Topographic Information System (ASTIS), gathers fundamental map
production data. The first application was the production of a
Map Catalogue. While the Map Catalogue is a document of value,
the concept of information has more importance than graphics
oriented data. So, the second phase of the ASTIS project was to
design an information structure which would enable a wide range
of queries to be performed and, therefore, positively affect
decision making processes.
 What is the map coverage of a geographical area?
 Show the maps produced by an agency within a radial
distance of a point or place.
 Provide an area description of a geographical area.
 Show the maps compiled or produced by an agency within a
geographical area before (or after) a date.
 Show the relationship between formats of different map
series.
 Provide photogrammetric control details of a map.
Army Survey
Topographic
Information System:
An information
structuring approach
R.J.Williams
MAIC
MASPRS
1986
15

16. TEXT
REPORT
GRAPHIC
DISPLAY
TASK
PLANNING
INFORMATION
DIRECTORIES
DATAFILES
LIBRARIES
ALGORITHMS
APPLICATION
COMMUNICATIOIN
SYSTEM
INTERACTION
Automated cartography: the
next development
1986
Automated
Cartography:
The next development
R.J.Williams
MAIC
MASPRS
1986
The cartographer’s role is changing as a result of advances in technology.
Computers and associated techniques have provided cartographers with a variety of new and
powerful capabilities to digitally collect, manipulate, analyse and display digital data.
16
The first development in automated cartography is that of automating the map making
process. This has become known as computer-assisted cartography. This development has
been adopted by many of the traditional mapping agencies. The second development in
automated cartography arose through increasing demands by users for data and
information of a spatial nature. These systems became known as geographic information
systems.
This paper discusses the future direction of automated cartography and offers views
on CARTOGRAPHIC ENQUIRY SYSTEMS. The paper questions if such systems will
be the next development in automated cartography.

17. ANU – GIS – Workshop –Geographic Information Systems and the
Australian Defence Requirements
1987
The Strategic and Defence Studies Centre organized a two-day workshop
on Geographic Information Systems held on
20-21 August 1987 in the Combs Building at the Australian National
University. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss:
The current state of the art and the potential of GIS in Australia;
The requirements of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) for GIS;
The ways in which the ADF might make optimum use of GIS.
“The Government’s Defence policy and program is comprehensively covered in the Policy Information Paper, The Defence of Australia,
which I tabled in Parliament on 19 March 1987. At the core of that policy is the concept of defence self-reliance and a strategy of defence in
depth. Defence self-reliance in Australia’s strategic and unique geographic circumstances is achievable. Self-reliance as a goal is based on a
realistic assessment of our strengths, as well as on a rigorous appraisal of our weaknesses. It draws on the skilful harnessing of Australia’s
national resources in the defence of Australia and its interests.
The remoteness and harsh environment of the most likely areas of entry to Australia would pose considerable difficulties for a would-be
enemy as indeed it would for the development and operations of our own forces. To ensure that the balance is tilted in our favour we need to
know, understand and make use of our environment and our infrastructure. The knowledge and judicious exploitation of resources, both
natural and man-made, will play a vital role in any contingency.
While it is true that the importance of geographic information has long been recognised, little has been done in Australia to develop a
comprehensive geographic information system. Quite simply, until now, Australia’s defence policies have not accorded priority to
geographic information on Australia. The Policy Information Paper on defence clearly corrects that deficiency. The question now is how
are we to establish and maintain a system which will meet the comprehensive needs of defence planners. Much of the information is already
there. It has been compiled by various governmental and private bodies concerned with, for example, land use and resource applications.
What is required is good management to exploit this information and to fill any gaps in the particular requirements of defence.
Recent developments in technologies and systems relevant to geographic information systems show promise. Advances in data collection and
storage technologies as well as transmission and display systems point the way to defence planners having access to accurate and detailed
geographic information in the near future and at relatively low cost. A comprehensive geographic information system is vital to the
development of a national defence capability and consequently this book is a welcome contribution to this area of Australia’s defence effort. I
hope it will provide stimulus for further research and discussion”.
Kim C. Beazley
November 1987
The proceedings of the workshop were published in
1989 and included a foreword by the Minister for Defence,
the Honorable Kim C. Beazley.
Desmond Ball and Ross Babbage (eds),
Geographic Information Systems:
Defence Applications,
Brassey's Australia, 1989.
17

18. 1987
Evolution in cartography:
Data intelligence
Evolution
in cartography:
Data intelligence
Robert Williams MAIC
Royal Australian Survey Corps
CARTOGRAPHY
Volume 16 No.2 September 1987
The mapping market is seeing a major shift toward
decision support and operations management based on
digital map data bases and geographic information
systems. Current approaches, both CAD and GIS, have
developed and provided benefits to both government
and private organisations. But evolving analytical uses
for data highlight deficiencies in both approaches
indicating that there is a need to research structure of
geographic data and systems to utilize geographic data.
1. Knowledge = Facts + Beliefs + Heuristics
2. Success = Finding a good-enough answer with the resources
available
3. Search efficiency directly affects success
4. Aids to efficiency:
a. Applicable, correct, discriminating knowledge
b. Rapid elimination of blind alleys
c. Elimination of redundant computation
d. Increased speed of computer operation
e. Multiple cooperative sources of knowledge
f. Reasoning at varying levels of abstraction
5. Sources of increased problem difficulty:
a. Errorful data or knowledge
b. Dynamically changing data
c. The number of possibilities to evaluate
d. Complex procedures for ruling out possibilities
Knowledge-based data and techniques for decision-making
Vision – INTELLIGENT CARTOGRAPHY18

19. ADFA – UNSW– Workshop – Geographic Information Systems and the
Defence of Australia
1988
Seminar sponsored by the
Directorate of Intelligence Headquarters ADF
and the
Department of Geography and Oceanography University College UNSW
I was posted to the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) in 1988 and, after the success of the ANU workshop, I
discussed the idea with Major Dennis Puniard, HQADF, and the Head of the Department of Geography and
Oceanography of having a seminar at ADFA with a general invitation to Defence personnel.
Geographic Information in the Defence of Australia Seminar – 28-30 June
1988.
The aim of the seminar was to widen the awareness of the existence and
application of geographic information systems throughout the Defence
organisation, and in the Australian community at large.
Additional aims of the seminar was to:
 Provide HQADF with the necessary input to allow policy and
guidance to be developed including a strategy for implementing an
ADF geographic information system.
 To update users and providers of geographic information on
research and development being carried out.
 To demonstrate state of the art technology in geographic
information systems.
Vision – 250 participants left with a belief that GIS capabilities were about to become a reality19

20. Analysis of the road
transportation network
1988
Within the scope of digital cartography, the
problem of route assessment has been examined
predominately from the viewpoint of vehicle
navigation. Sophisticated systems have been
developed to track a vehicle’s route and
display this on a visual display unit.
Receiving less analysis has been that of
route planning.
This paper concentrates on the route planning
capability by examining the structure of road
and related information and techniques to
process that information.
Hierarchical networks Heuristic algorithms
Planning functions investigated using case studies
Vision – DECISION MAKING in Real-Time
Analysis of the road
transportation
network
R.J.Williams
MAIC
MASPRS
1988
20

21. Geographic Information:
Aspects of Phenomenology and cognition
1989
Concept and Role
Schemas
World View Categories
Cognitive Views of
Geographic Information
Concepts of Feature, Entity and Object
Vision - TOWARDS INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS
Geographic
Information:
Aspects of
Phenomenology
and Cognition
R.J.Williams
UNSW @ Australian
Defence Force
Academy
AUTO-CARTO 9
Baltimore, MD
April 2-7, 1989
21

22. Ben Bova – American futurist
"I don't think of what I do as science fiction, I think of it as historical reports of events that haven't happened
yet”
1989
Keynote Address - ASPRS/ACSM/AUTO-CARTO 9 Conference
1989
“Welcome to Moonbase”
Ben Bova
American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing - American Congress on Surveying and Mapping
ASPRS/ACSM/AUTO-CARTO 9 Conference - Baltimore, MD - 2-7 April 1989
With the premise that man returns to the moon in 1999 and establishes a permanent base there by 2020, science fiction
author and editor Ben Bova fashions an intriguing “manual'' for pioneers arriving at the lunar community. With 50 detailed
illustrations by NASA artist Rawlings, the guidebook covers Moonbase history, architecture, ecology, transportation,
science projects, jobs, training, industries, tourism, sports (“lunar jai alai''), entertainment, day-to-day life, duties, rights
and laws. Combining fact and fiction in this “future history”, Bova presents a compelling and persuasive argument for
mankind's continual exploration of the moon and the establishment of a base on the lunar surface.
Dr. Ben Bova's has written more than 120 futuristic novels and nonfiction books, and has been involved in science and high
technology since the very beginnings of the space age. President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past
president of Science Fiction Writers of America, Dr. Bova received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Arthur C. Clarke
Foundation in 2005, "for fueling mankind's imagination regarding the wonders of outer space.”
In his various writings, Dr. Bova has predicted the Space Race of the 1960s, solar power satellites, the discovery of organic
chemicals in interstellar space, virtual reality, human cloning, the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars), the discovery of
life on Mars, stem cell therapy, the discovery of ice on the Moon, electronic book publishing and zero-gravity sex.
22

23. 23
1988-89
The PhD experience
at UNSW@ADFA
Harold Moellering
Visiting Research Scientist, Centre for Spatial Information Systems, CSIRO., Canberra, Australia, July-
August, 1988.
Harold Moellering is currently Professor of Geography at Ohio State University. He is past Chairman of the ACSM
Committee on Automation in Cartography and Surveying and has served as a member of the Committee on
Cartography of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council.
David Mark
1988 Visiting Scientist, CSIRO Division of Information Technology, Australia (August 28-November 7,
1988).
David M. Mark is a Professor of Geography at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, and is
the Director of the Buffalo site of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA).
David Mark's research interests include ontology of the geospatial domain, geographic cognition, cultural
differences in geographic concepts, geographic information systems, human-computer interaction, and digital
elevation models.
Timothy Nyerges, Full Prof, Dept of Geography, U of
Washington, Seattle
6/82 - 3/87. Chairman, Technical Working Group on Data
Organization, National Committee for Digital Cartographic Data
Standards.
3/82 - 3/87. Steering Committee, National Committee for Digital
Cartographic Data Standards.
Another period of long-term schooling. At the end of 1987, being aware of the upcoming initiative
to report on an Australian Defence Force (ADF) GIS initiative, my Corps Director asked me if I would
undertake a further period of long-term schooling. This time I would attend the University of New
South Wales (UNSW) at the Australian Defence Force Academy. My guidance, as for the two
previous periods of long-term schooling, was to undertake research that would inform my Director on
capability development. A secondary request was to take the opportunity to talk about issues to ADFA
staff and visitors. As my sons were in high school in Bendigo I lived in in the Officer’s Mess for two
years and commuted back to Bendigo every second weekend. That gave me a unique opportunity to
fulfill that second request.
The Geography Department did not have the expertise to fully supervise and guide my research in my
specialist area. However, the Head of the Department then encouraged my participation in external
activities including attendance at Auto-Carto 9 and meetings with visiting scientists at the Australian
National University (ANU) and CSIRO.
UNSW @
ADFA
AUTO-CARTO 9
Spatial Relations and Data Base Models
Moderator – Dr Donna Peuquet
Presenters – D.M. Mark & A.U. Frank, R.J. Williams,
T.L. Nyerges, M.McGranaghan
Wednesday, April 5, 1989

24. Analysis of geographic information:
A cognitive approach
1989
ANALYSIS OF GEOGRAPHIC
INFORMATION:
A COGNITIVE APPROACH
Robert John Williams
1989
The University of
New South Wales -
Australian Defence Force
Academy
GEOGRAPHIC
KNOWLEDGE BASES
GEOGRAPHIC
KNOWLEDGE RULES
EXPERTISE
DATABASES
Apple Macintosh II
The approach taken in this thesis has been to investigate the representation and analysis of geographic
information from phenomenological and cognitive viewpoints. This approach implies that structural
relationships have been investigated based on their occurrence in the 'real world' and the way in which
features are managed and processed in the 'real world'. This approach differs from most other research
which essentially investigates geographic data based on cartographic representations of features, thereby
commencing with an abstraction and symbolic representation of data.
This phenomenological and cognitive approach has emphasized high-level formalization and the importance
of knowledge of general properties, significant properties, inter-relations and regularities of 'real world' geographic data. In
expounding this methodology, the theory has been presented in a more abstract logical form than most other contemporary
research in geographic data structures and automated cartography.
24

25. 25
The 1980s … …
Was A Decade of Innovation … …
… … with Experience and Vision …
Then The 1990s … …
Would be A Decade of Uncertainty… …
… … with Changes and Challenges … …
Fortuna Villa refers to the grand building and surrounding grounds situated in
Bendigo. From 1942 to 1996 Fortuna was the home of the Army Survey
Regiment.
This etched glass is in the conservatory (at right). It is
possible that the panel was commissioned in Italy prior
to Federation. If so, that’s VISION.