This book seeks to shed further light on the organizational and social dimensions of GIS using both a theoretical and practical multidisciplinary approach. It provides a broad and historical perspective on the developments of the geographic information society and on its connection with the field of information technology, in order to highlight the issues and problems associated with the implementation, diffusion and social use of GIS in organizations.
The reader is invited to explore various organizational and social contexts of GIS implementation, from a thematic perspective of consultation and participation, related to different geographic and cultural fields (Europe, USA, Canada, etc.).
Preface by Mike Goodchild, University of California at Santa-Barbara, USA
Part 1. Issues and Prospects of GIS Relationships, Organizations and Society
1. GIS: A Historical Process: The Past as Support for the Future, Nicholas Chrisman.
2. The Space and Place Trades of the Territory and Geographic Information Technologies: Babel and Esperanto, Grégoire Feyt.
3. The Future of GIS from an IT Evolution Perspective, Lin Gingras and François Bergeron.
Part 2. GIS and its Place Within Organizations
4. The Role and Value of GIS in Organizations, Claude Caron.
5. Social Use and Adoption Models of GIS, Stéphane Roche and Benoit Raveleau.
6. GIS Engineering: Its Place in Organizations, Henri Pornon.
7. GIS, Cognition and Business, Wladimir Major and François Golay.
Part 3. Examples of GIS Uses in Organizations
8. GIS and Territorial Governance: Examples in Quebec and Tunisia, Jean-Jacques Chevallier.
9. Digital Participation and “Access” in UK Local Government, Robin Smith.
10. GIS and Citizen Participation: Urban Revitalization Projects in the USA, Rina Ghose.
11. Geographic Information and Inter-Organizational Partnerships, Henri Pornon, Zorica Nedovic-Budic and Jeffrey K. Pinto.
Stéphane Roche is Professor and Chair of the Département des sciences géomatiques of Laval University, Quebec, Canada.
Claude Caron is Professor and Director of the Geobusiness research group of the University of Sherbrooke’s Faculty of Administration (Quebec, Canada).