Geographic information systems and science: today and tomorrow

Great strides have been made in geographic information systems and science over the past 14 years: through the development of spatial data infrastructures and the infrastructure of data sharing; through advances in the technologies of positioning, data acquisition, data dissemination, and data analysis; and through advances in the science that lies behind the technology. Five future scenarios are examined: a world in which it is possible to know where everything is at all times; a world of positioning, representation, and wayfinding that is fully three dimensional; a world that involves the citizen as both consumer and producer of geographic information; a world of ready access to predictions of future landscapes; and a world of real-time dynamic information.