ABSTRACT

Imagine a world where countries of all different economic standing can access geographical information over the Internet for free. Where these data are maintained by authoritative spatial data organisations, using a range of different sources and are accessible around the clock, hosted in powerful data centres that users don’t need to establish and maintain. Where the data is accessible through standards-based Web service calls that can be easily integrated into existing business functions and workflows. Many of the technologies discussed in this book have now matured to the point where they provide global solutions to governments, private sector and citizens. These solutions are now commonplace for querying and rendering through a wide range of services and mediums and both individuals and organisations can now combine (mash-up) these data and apply them to solve a wide range of problems. This chapter discusses a number of current trends and the technology directions which will underpin the next wave of Online GIS.