ABSTRACT
Technologies such as geographic information system (GIS) are distinguished by the propensity for organizations rather than individuals to provide the focus for decisions concerning diffusion. As a result the relationship between technological innovations and organizations is likely to have a significant, and even determining, influence on the chances of initially securing adoption as well as achieving long-term utilization. The term 'technology', like many others, is both highly evocative as well as notoriously difficult to define. Common usage tends to associate technologies with progress and in some ways a near-mystical capacity to improve the future well-being of the whole of society. Implicit within the discussion has been the assumption that GIS should be regarded as a form of technology and perhaps more particularly an innovative technology. The contexts into which computer-based information systems such as GIS are to operate seldom form a significant area of investigation for those involved in the design of the technologies.
