{"id":1841418,"date":"2025-05-30T09:19:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T13:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1841418"},"modified":"2025-05-30T11:38:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T15:38:33","slug":"reimagining-gis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/05\/reimagining-gis\/","title":{"rendered":"Reimagining GIS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Linda Stevens says it\u2019s time to move past GIS<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Since its inception, the evolution of GIS has often felt like forcing a square peg into a round hole<\/strong>. Over the years, the layer-based model has been stretched and modified to accommodate everything from long transaction editing to the intricate modeling of interconnected ecosystems.. Yet, as computing power grows, cloud resources expand, and database technologies advance, the limitations of a map- and layer-centric GIS have become increasingly evident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The time has come to reimagine GIS\u2014shifting towards a truly geographic-centric information system<\/strong>, one that fully embraces modern technology. It might go by a different name, and some may see it as unspecial, but I believe it has the potential to revolutionize how we approach data modeling.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Update<\/em>: Mastodon commenters are more than a bit skeptical<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linda Stevens says it\u2019s time to move past GIS: Since its inception, the evolution of GIS has often felt like forcing a square peg into a round hole. Over the years, the layer-based model has been… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1841418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-gis","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1236,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/03\/sexism-in-the-gis-workplace\/","url_meta":{"origin":1841418,"position":0},"title":"Sexism in the GIS Workplace","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"17 March 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"Is Sexism a Problem in GIS? Caitlin Dempsey Morais of GIS Lounge grapples with a thorny subject. \"Over a two week period in September of 2015, I opened a survey on GIS Lounge to\u00a0those working in the geospatial industry in order to take a look at the question of, 'is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "GIS"","block_context":{"text":"GIS","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/gis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":520,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/01\/how-to-cite-gis-materials\/","url_meta":{"origin":1841418,"position":1},"title":"How to Cite GIS Materials","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"25 January 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"\"How to Cite GIS Materials\" is an older post (Caitlin Dempsey Morais first posted it to GIS Lounge in 2012, but\u00a0retweeted it recently)\u00a0but all the same a perennially useful one: it demonstrates\u00a0proper citation format for GIS data sources as well as maps, whether paper or online.","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1845254,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/12\/gis-and-enshittification\/","url_meta":{"origin":1841418,"position":2},"title":"GIS and Enshittification","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"1 December 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"Linda Stevens believes that the GIS industry is showing signs of enshittification: \u201cCoined by tech critic Cory Doctorow, \u2018enshitification\u2019 describes how once-great platforms decay under the pressures of greed and control. They begin as open, user-centered systems but gradually morph into closed ecosystems optimized for corporate rent-seeking rather than public\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "GIS"","block_context":{"text":"GIS","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/gis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1805420,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/11\/geography-awareness-week-gis-day-and-the-2020-u-s-census\/","url_meta":{"origin":1841418,"position":3},"title":"Geography Awareness Week, GIS Day, and the 2020 U.S. Census","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"16 November 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"In raising-public-awareness news, the third week of November is Geography Awareness Week, and since 1999 the Wednesday of that week is GIS Day. For this year\u2019s GIS Day, the Library of Congress is holding a virtual event focusing on the 2020 Census, featuring a keynote by Census Bureau geography chief\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1148,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/03\/conference-on-gis-and-ancient-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":1841418,"position":4},"title":"Conference on GIS and Ancient History","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"8 March 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"Mapping the Past: GIS Approaches to Ancient History, a conference hosted by the Ancient World Mapping Center (the folks behind the\u00a0Barrington Atlas), takes place at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, from 7 to 9 April 2016. It's open to the public. Here's the full schedule. [via] Previously:\u00a0Antiquity \u00e0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Conferences"","block_context":{"text":"Conferences","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/conferences\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1833466,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/08\/tim-walz-is-a-huge-gis-nerd\/","url_meta":{"origin":1841418,"position":5},"title":"Tim Walz Is a Huge GIS Nerd","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"7 August 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Ni8BrT0-6gM Yesterday, U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. Among other things, Walz is a former social studies teacher and early adopter of GIS as a teaching tool, and has nerded out on geography and GIS throughout his political\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "GIS"","block_context":{"text":"GIS","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/gis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/Ni8BrT0-6gM\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1841418"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1841423,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841418\/revisions\/1841423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1841418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1841418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1841418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}