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Challenges

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Social and cultural

The biggest challenges to GeoInformatics may be getting the participants to coordinate and possibly change the way they currently work. Workers are understandably concerned about having to convert existing databases and systems into something designed elsewhere for perhaps different reasons. Not only would that be expensive, but it would discourage or prevent many researchers from plugging into the proposed system. The evolving concept of the GeoInformatics system is one that is designed for the full scientific community, be distributed rather than centralized; will balance top-down standardization with bottoms-up creativity; and will consider key human factors including:
  1. Many scientists are not able or willing to use cutting-edge technologies.
  2. A cutting-edge system may appeal mostly to cutting-edge researchers.
  3. People are most likely to use their own software and tools locally.

Technical

The technology exists to build much of GeoInformatics now. Many of the elements of GeoInformatics are being built and run in a large variety of discipline-oriented and regional projects. One of the problems is that everyone is heading off in different directions resulting in a multiplicity of systems that are not compatible and lack interoperability. Coordination needs to be achieved before the current varieties are too entrenched and retrofitting is too expensive and difficult.

The focus of GeoInformatics is building a system that allows scientists to take advantage of whatever technology exists and continue to connect to the system and use it, adapting to technological advances and differences among other participants.

For info about the workshop, contact Lee Allison, Chaitan Baru, or Tom Jordan.
For info on workshop logistics, contact Nancy Jensen.
For info about travel, contact Debbie Douglass.
Page updated March 31, 2003.
Page URL: http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Geoinfo2/Cyber/bg2.html
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