DATA | INTERFACE | COMPUTATION

All digital projects need data and a means to manipulate that data. GIS as both a hard- and soft-ware interface has many, many proprietary formats and new interfaces can even be developed independently using existing software tools.

The biggest difference between spatial applications is the manner in which data, software, and hardware are organized. Some for-profit groups keep everything in a big, expensive, but powerful and consistently supported package. Other projects piggyback on either proprietary data or software; suplementing it with components from the public domain. Still other projects utilize both data and software publicly available from large providers/ aggregators and adapt them to specific purposes.

The fragmented nature of contemporary GIS tools and cultures present either serious obstacles or rich oppoprtunities to integrate a comprehensive sense of natural relationships into our developing technology. These case studies are intended to outline the development and distribution of geo-locational mapping technology online. They are not exhaustive critiques of particular projects of methods.

Perhaps it will increase the tendency and capability of individuals to interpret existing conditions and trends in making development decisions. If this is the case, how can the information be presented to ensure full awareness of natural systems.

This project looks to compare and contrast the types of information currently available through top-down planning efforts and open-source methods/styles of delivery. The radical conflict of this condition will be addressed in discussing how each model/method approaches the hosting, dissemination, and maintenance of data as it moves between private and public creation and accessibility.