Geographical importance is one of the ancient things that are still
very popular. In ancient time maps are created by using bamboo sticks, bones
and leather of animals. After the
invention of computer manual geographical phenomena are started transferring in
digital format. Let’s take a look on the journey from traditional geography to
geographic information system (GIS).
History of GIS
Within
the last five decades, GIS has evolved from a concept to a science. The
phenomenal evolution of GIS from a rudimentary tool to a modern, powerful
platform for understanding and planning our world is marked by several key
milestones.
The Early History of GIS (1960’s)
The
field of geographic information systems (GIS) started in the 1960s as computers
and early concepts of quantitative and computational geography emerged. Early
GIS work included important research by the academic community. Later, the
National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, led by Michael
Goodchild, formalized research on key geographic information science topics
such as spatial analysis and visualization. These efforts fueled a quantitative
revolution in the world of geographic science and laid the groundwork for
GIS.
The First GIS 1963
Roger Tomlinson’s pioneering work to initiate, plan, and develop the
Canada Geographic Information System resulted in the first computerized GIS in
the world in 1963. The Canadian government had commissioned Tomlinson to create
a manageable inventory of its natural resources. He envisioned using computers
to merge natural resource data from all provinces. Tomlinson created the design
for automated computing to store and process large amounts of data, which
enabled Canada to begin its national land-use management program. He also gave
GIS its name.
The Harvard Laboratory 1965
While at Northwestern University in 1964, Howard Fisher created one of
the first computer mapping software programs known as SYMAP. In 1965, he
established the Harvard Laboratory for Computer Graphics. While some of the
first computer map-making software was created and refined at the Lab, it also
became a research center for spatial analysis and visualization. Many of the
early concepts for GIS and its applications were conceived at the Lab by a
talented collection of geographers, planners, computer scientists, and others
from many fields.
Esri is Founded 1969
In 1969, Jack Dangermond—a member of the Harvard Lab—and his wife Laura
founded Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (Esri). The consulting
firm applied computer mapping and spatial analysis to help land use planners
and land resource managers make informed decisions. The company’s early work
demonstrated the value of GIS for problem solving. Esri went on to develop many
of the GIS mapping and spatial analysis methods now in use. These results
generated a wider interest in the company’s software tools and work-flows that
are now standard to GIS.
GIS Goes Commercial 1981
As computing became more powerful, Esri improved its software tools.
Working on projects that solved real-world problems led the company to innovate
and develop robust GIS tools and approaches that could be broadly used. Esri’s
work gained recognition from the academic community as a new way of doing
spatial analysis and planning. In need of analyzing an increasing number of
projects more effectively, Esri developed ARC/INFO—the first commercial GIS
product. The technology was released in 1981 and began the evolution of Esri
into a software company.
GIS Today --
GIS gives people the ability to
create their own digital map layers to help solve real-world problems. GIS has
also evolved into a means for data sharing and collaboration, inspiring a
vision that is now rapidly becoming a reality—a continuous, overlapping, and
interoperable GIS database of the world, about virtually all subjects. Today,
hundreds of thousands of organizations are sharing their work and creating
billions of maps every day to tell stories and reveal patterns, trends, and
relationships about everything.
Very informative
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