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Geography, Creating Communities and G.net
By GeoCommunity Staff (July 17, 2001)
Last week at the annual ESRI User Coneference held in San Diego, Jack Dangermond kicked things off by
discussing the role that Geography and GIS in particular plays in creating communities. We take a closer look and
introduce you to G.net
Jack Dangermond set the tone for this year’s ESRI User Conference by reiterating the theme of the show
“Geography - Creating Communities”. Jack went on in the opening day session noting that the week was
to be about sharing - sharing technology, data, and processes. And so the tone was set; more than 11,000
users and potential users of ESRI products and services from 110 countries gathered to listen, interact, and
share ideas with each other at the 21st annual ESRI User Conference.
To me, this year's show seemed a bit different than the last couple of UC’s. I didn’t really detect a sense of
excitement in the air from the attendees (not initially anyway). I think this is mostly due to the fact that people are more
knowledgeable about the technology and are more aware of what they can expect from it. As usual, Jack
Dangermond did a great job of kick-starting the show. Listening to him speak about the company and the
future of the company, you can’t help buy get excited. When you are presented with examples, images, and
videos (as we were throughout the opening sessions) showing the effect that GIS has had on the world, you
can’t help but be proud of the fact that all of us are touching others and making a difference in the World -
regardless of what software you use. One thing that I left the conference with, as I usually do, is a
confirmed feeling that Jack is truly passionate about the industry and the role that ESRI plays is shaping the
GIS community.
So why the theme Geography Creating Communities? Dangermond reminds us that we all belong to
communities; at the macro and micro levels. We belong to natural communities defined by the web of life
and we all belong to human communities defined by communication and enabling technologies. We all co-
evolve, depend, and exist as part of a larger global community. It’s important to realize that we all play a
part in the global community, particularly when you think that the amount of global change many of us
have lived through in our relatively short life time should [under “normal” circumstances] take millions of
years to occur. Dangermond said it best when he noted that “geography and GIS provide the framework
for community consciousness.”
So what about the future and the future of GIS? Dangermond sees GIS evolving into a kind of “nervous
system” for the planet; one that is dynamic and changing. We will require a Global GIS community, one
that is based on sharing. How you might ask… picture this:
Thousands of connected systems. An integrated system that requires standards, standardized data, a policy
framework, leadership, and enabling technology for easy deployment. Does this sound familiar? Enter
g.net, ESRI’s network architecture for the future. Don’t worry, you won’t have to rush out and try to buy a
copy of G.net! Think of it as a concept, an architecture, an enabling technology, open and built on
internationally recognized standards. This is the future of ESRI and hopefully the GIS Community [well,
the ESRI Community anyway]. We’ve all been introduced to G.net, many of us simply haven’t been
introduced to the concept yet. If you’ve ever visited the GeographyNetwork (www.geographynetwork.com)
then you’ve had a taste of the first attempt to implement G.net. Has it been accepted yet? I guess we’ll have
to wait and see. Keep in mind that there are already more than 300 data publishers on the
GeographyNetwork responding to more than 100,000 daily queries, and there are numerous “smaller”
GeographyNetworks in the works like the one in Texas and GeographyNetwork Canada scheduled for
release in the near future - More users creating communities!
What Do you think? Comments
SpatialNews 2001 ESRI UC Home
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