1.2. History of GIS

 

During the short span of history, both the technology used to construct GIS and the functions of GIS have undergone considerable changes. GIS as we understand it today is quite different from its predecessors. As a computer – dependent application, the origin of GIS could be traced to research and development in electronic data processing dating back to the 1940s and 1950s.

                One of the first applications of spatial analysis is in epidemiology in the year 1832. The French geographer Charles Piquet represented the 48 districts of the city of Paris by halftone colour gradient according to the number of deaths by cholera per 1,000 inhabitants. In 1854 John Snow determined the source of a cholera outbreak in London by marking points on a map depicting where the cholera victims lived. Connecting the cluster, he found the source of cholera was a nearby water source. This was one of the earliest successful uses of a geographic methodology in epidemiology. However, the evolution of GIS can be traced in the following three phases.

The Formative Years in the 1960s and 1970s

                Between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s, the new discipline was dominated by the contribution of few individuals. The development of the world's first true operational GIS took place in Canada. It was developed by Dr. Roger Tomlinson and is called the Canada Geographic Information System (CGIS). It is used to store, analyze, and manipulate data collected for the Canada Land Inventory at a scale of 1:50,000.

            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. Many of the early concepts for GIS and its applications were developed at this Lab. This lab was the first to develop a contemporary vector GIS called ODESSEY in 1969. In the same year, Jack Dangermond—a member of the Harvard Lab—and his wife Laura founded Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI).

            The US Census Bureau was early adopters of some of the core principles of GIS. The pioneering work by the US Census Bureau led to the development of the data format GBF-DIME (Geographic Base File – Dual Independent Map Encoding). It was developed to input digital data of the 1970 Census. GBF-DIME became a file format that supported digital data input, error fixing and even choropleth mapping. Using this format, the US Census Bureau began to digitize Census boundaries, roads, and urban areas. This was a huge step forward in the history of GIS.

            The early generations of GI systems were developed and used mainly by government agencies and universities, for specific data management and research objectives. Most of these early systems were based on the concept of raster cells. Land and resource management was the primary application area of these systems. These applications laid a solid foundation for the growth of GIS into an important branch of information technology in the 1980s.

 The years of maturing technology from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s

            The years from mid 1970s to early 1980s saw the adoption of technologies by national agencies. During the seventies and eighties developments in spatial awareness and how to handle spatial data were given key importance in academic centres such as Harvard and ESRI. 

            The technical paper of Corbett (1979) on the concept of topology as applied to spatial data was a major milestone in the development of GIS concepts and techniques. The concept of topological data structures largely solved the data representation problem that hindered the development of vector GIS in the early years.

            The ability to port GIS applications to the microcomputer platform in the late 1980s led to the development of MapInfo, PC-Arcinfo, and several other PC-based systems. In 1982, Environmental Systems Research Institute, released Arcinfo, based on minicomputers. It was one of the first vector –based GIS software package to use the georelational data model that employed a hybrid approach to geographic data processing.

            By the mid -1980s the focus of GIS development gradually shifted to the methods of data collection, quality, and standards, as well as data analysis and database organization. This data-oriented approach of GIS development led to the integration of vector and raster geographic data, as well as the integration of geographic data with other types of business data in what is called enterprise computing environment. It also nurtured the concept of open GIS that aims to develop systems capable of sharing technical and data resources with one another.

            The development of GIS was greatly accelerated by the phenomenal growth of computer technology in the 1990s.   With the advances in operating systems, computer graphics, database management systems, computer human integration, and graphical user interface design, GIS became a multiplatform application that run on different classes of computers. The applications of GIS were quickly extended to new areas that included facility management, vehicle navigation, market research, and decision support in business management.

            While the applications of GIS were becoming increasingly diversified, they were also becoming more sophisticated. It is generally agreed that by the mid -1990s, GIS has become relatively mature in terms of both technology and applications.

The Age of Geographic Information Infrastructure Started in the mid -1990s

            Since the mid-1990s, the development of GIS has entered a new era that can be aptly called the Age of Geographic Information Infrastructure. The concept of information infrastructure emerged in the early 1990s when the United States government proposed the National Information Infrastructure initiative. The objective of this initiative was to provide all U.S.  Citizens access to information affecting their lives that pertains to government, health care, education, and community development.

            Similar national geographic information infrastructure initiatives have also been established in many other countries. These initiatives have significantly raised the profile of using geographic information in government, business, industry, and academia, and by the general public.

The future of GIS

As the world faces problem from expanding population, loss of nature, and pollution, GIS will play an important role in how we understand and address these issues and providing a means for communicating solutions using the language of mapping. GIS will be the nervous system of the Planet.

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