GIS for

Politics
Andrew U. Frank
Geoinfo TU Vienna
frank@geoinfo.tuwien.ac.at

Key Experience:
Comparing AM/FM with GIS in mid 80s:
success reports for AM/FM
hopeful projects with GIS
Why?

GIS PlaNET 1998

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Why is a Technology
Successful?

Technologist push what is technologically

feasible.
Success stories:
Fax, www
GIS did not grow as quickly,
despite potential for use.
Consider:
Social demand!
Do we respond to demands?
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My background
dipl.ing. Surveying from ETH Zurich
doctorate in database modeling for GIS
NCGIA - U Maine
research focus at TU Vienna:
modeling with cognitive science
perspective
economics and marketing for GIS

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My approach to GIS
initially:
concern for the limited natural resources.
I hoped GIS would help to a better world.
Folk theorem:
More information leads to better decisions.
I still believe in rationality, even in politics.
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GIS Today:
- successful in day to day management of
administrative data
-support for planning
Rapid growth,
but not commensurate with potential.

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GI used in Political
Decisions
Substantial potential,
but seldom used.

Exceptions: -Political campaigns,

- redistricting
Why not more use for decision making.

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Reasons for the lack of

use of GIS in political
A technologist answer:
decision
making
Politicians are not interested.
A practical answer:
GIS are too complex to be used.
Improvements of user interfaces are
necessary!
Neither of the two are sufficient answers.
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Does the GIS provide the

Information Politicians
Politicians focus on
need?

- changes
- decide on actions to change situation
to improve
- concentrate on situation affecting
the population
Similar question can be asked for other
potential users.
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What Information
Produces
Detailed information about current state.
a GIS

Static
Information often related to land cover
(data from remote sensing).
Limited information on social parameters.

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Case:
European Agricultural
Known: current situation
Politics

Required: a new policy to

- reduce cost to EU
- improve environment
- balance social situation
Possible actions:
change rules for subsidies
Eminently a GIS type problem.
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What is Required?
Data about change.
Integration of data from
environment,
agriculture and
social system.
Help to predict effects of rule changes.
Models for processes.
Methods to evaluate alternatives.
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Data Quality Required

Politically fiable
Generalized data
Rational chain of arguments to link
observations to actions
Examples from past for justification

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Integrate Physical and

Human Geography Data

The issues are at the interaction of

humans with the environment.
The GIS must integrate the data from
environmental sensors with the data
from the administrative system.
Technology:
Seamless integration of
raster and vector technology
Interoperability of GIS of different agencies
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Technology required for

spatio-temporal data
Change is crucial,
To describe change
a temporal database is required.

Watchword:
No GIS without time!
(the requirement is similar for most
administrative applications of GIS)
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Technology required to
Model Process

Politicians decide about rules, not about

states.
(the same for urban planners).
Process models connect the rules with the
state and result in a model of the
future state.
This future state can be evaluated to
assess the desirability of the new rule.
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Limitation to Static Data

is in the Logical
First order predicate calculus is de rigor
Foundation
for CS.
Base for Relational Data Model.
Complex temporal logics.

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Higher Order Languages

In first order languages
functions, which are the model of
process and change,
are not generalizable
f (a) is first order,
but not
for all f
where f (a) = b is f (b) = a
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Potential Solution
Use second order calculus!
For Technologists:
- Functional programming language
based on higher order languages
merged with
- Object-Oriented Technology

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Haskell
- a functional language with performance
within a factor of 3 ... 7 to C++
- logically clean
- spatial temporal databases using a
temporal ER model (Chorochronos
project)

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Conclusion 1: Geographic
Information Product - GIP

1. Start with potential user and the

decision which must be taken.
2. Consider the information required for
the decision.
3. Create an information product to satisfy
this need.
4. Find technical solution to produce the
GIP.
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Conclusion 2:
Technology required to
satisfy the need of
Politicians:
- spatio-temporal database
- integration of physical and social science
data
- construction of spatial process models
- interoperability

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Conclusion 3: Research
Issues

Semantic integration of data from

different sources using models of
common processes
Assess Data Quality
from data through process to decision

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