[SDI-AsiaPacific] What's your best description of GIS (in 99 words or less)?

[Kate Lance]

*** apologies for cross-postings *** 
 
What’s your best description of GIS (in 99 words or less)? 
A recent issue of GeoPlace.com/GeoReport asks this question, and provides the following link for you to fill in a response: 
http://survey.aip.com/survey.asp?s=01105243105016216 
(feel free to share your response with the GSDI Discussion Lists as well) 
 
"The last couple of weeks, we’ve been discussing ways to describe GIS technology to non-users. Apparently, we touched on a hot topic—a record number of responses have been coming in to this thread. We asked for your favorite method to help the "non-GISer" understand what GIS actually is. Just more than 37 percent said they describe GIS as computer-based or digital mapping; nearly 19 percent put GIS use into context, such as municipal or emergency-management use; 16 percent use products such as MapQuest or Google Maps to describe the technology; 9 percent describe layers of information with a database repository; and 7 percent relate GIS to GPS. 
 
Nearly 12 percent had other ways to describe the technology, most of them saying they used a combination of the above. One respondent wrote: "I use the following description: ‘GIS is the practice of integrating data or information about a place on a map so that a user has the set of characteristics to fully describe that place.’" In other words, keep it non-technical, and leave the "geek-speak" out of the equation. It’s really up to us to make GIS relevant to non-users’ daily activities. 
 
The GeoPoll is going to continue this thread for a few weeks with a contest for the best description of GIS in 99 words or less. The GeoReport staff will vote on the best submission, and the winning description will be featured in GeoWorld’s news section." 
 
[Source: GeoPlace.com/GeoReport (08/17/05)] 
 
In a similar vain, see Chapter 2 of SDI-Africa: an implementation guide, "Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) Explained" http://geoinfo.uneca.org/sdiafrica/ http://geoinfo.uneca.org/sdiafrica/Chap_Pdf/02SDIEXplained.pdf 

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