What is Geographic Information Science?
Over the last half century, and accelerating in recent years, a suite of technologies has emerged that substantially improves our understanding of the planet we inhabit. Starting from a theoretical framework developed in the 1950’s and developed into computerized systems in the ensuing decades, these technologies – geographic information systems, remote sensing, and global positioning systems – have greatly improved our ability to collect, store, manage, analyze and use information. Coupled with a rapidly increasing storehouse of earth imagery provided by the space program and its offshoots, and with information communication concepts developed in the venerable field of cartography, we now have powerful tools that perhaps give us a chance to save our all-too-small home. These technologies ”penetrate every aspect of our lives from digital maps in rental and delivery vehicles to the management and maintenance of city infrastructure, regional agriculture and forest lands” (University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, 2001). The term Geographic Information Science is now used to describe the breadth of this rapidly growing field.

What is the Institute for Geographic Information Science?
The Institute for Geographic Information Science (IGISc), formerly the Multidisciplinary GIS Center, was established in January 1988 as a center for geospatial research at San Francisco State University. From it's offices within the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, the Institute continues to focus on applying state-of-the-art information technology to pressing interdisciplinary data, information, and research. The IGISc works at the intersection of the social, natural, and information sciences, and specializes in on-line data and information management, spatial data integration and training, and interdisciplinary research.

Central to the interdisciplinary nature of this center is providing access to spatial technologies accompanied with knowledge, theory, and “hands-on” experience in order to promote a diversity of geographic and environmental research. The purpose of the IGISc is to encourage and foster interdisciplinary cooperation among individuals and the community in the application of these methods in applied research. Furthermore, the IGISc is devoted to increasing campus and community literacy in spatial methods and technologies, as well as enhancing the educational environment through the cultivation of research. In order to advance this purpose, the IGISc shall be engaged in innovations in geographic information science, research support services, and comprehensive instruction and training. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in geospatial technology.

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