[FRIAM] Distributed Urban Information Systems

[Owen Densmore]

> Are we at a similar threshold now with GIS/3D?

Yes.

And I think they are intertwined .. as soon as anyone gets into 3D  
they'll want to stuff "reality" into it, and GIS is sorta where you'd  
have to start.  And GIS as just schematic, static drawings lacks the  
communication depth that GIS needs .. and finds in 3D and Modeling.

More to the point, however, in thinking GIS is on the brink of a huge  
explosion is the way it is becoming open.  If we simply had ArcGIS  
and Idrisi being replaced by GRASS, Thuban, uDig and others, that'd  
be interesting.  But they are going well beyond that.  They are  
developing APIs and libraries that are available in many languages  
(C, Java, Python) and on all platforms.  They are also becoming web  
based using new standards for web GIS servers.  And they have added  
GIS features to SQL databases.

So its not just that the tools are available.  Its that they are  
becoming a complete platform, and are moving beyond the IT/GIS  
specialties into multidisciplinary practice.

    -- Owen