Geographic Information Science and Technology serve the society, but it is not a panacea. The history of its development is the sum of fragmented efforts, which have still not been fully integrated. Its potential benefits are often constrained and its potential impacts are not fully understood. Institutional and economic factors limit access to data, technology, and expertise by some of those who need it to make better decisions. Political, ideological, and personal issues aside, organizations invest in GIS&T when estimated benefits outweigh estimated costs. Evaluating costs and benefits is difficult, however and too often leads to nothing being done. For some individuals and groups, costs are prohibitive even though potential benefits are compelling. The legal framework provides a structure for regulating a number of key aspects of geographic information science, technology, and applications. Legal regimes determine who can claim the exclusive right to hold and use geospatial data, the conditions under which others may have access to the data, and what subsequent uses are permitted. Political struggles arise from conflicting proprietary and public interests about who benefits from geospatial information, and how the power to allocate the use of this information is, or should be, distributed among members of a society. The need to choose among conflicting interests sometimes poses ethical dilemmas for GIS&T professionals. The explosive growth of the geospatial information contributed by users through various application programming interfaces has made geospatial information is a powerful tool in the social media toola powerful media for the general public to communicate, but perhaps more importantly, geographic information have also become a tool media for constructive dialogs and interactions about social issues, recent growth of Web-based geospatial information and volunteered geographic information (VGI). Because so many public agencies and private organizations rely upon GIS&T for planning, decision making, and management, GIS&T increasingly affects and is used to direct daily life. Critical approaches to understanding the role of GIS in society equip practitioners to employ GIS&T reflectively. The critical approach specifically questions the assumptions and premises that underlie the economic, legal and political regimes and institutional structures within which GIS&T is implemented. Related concerns are considered in Knowledge Area OI: Organizational and Institutional Aspects.
List and explain the different societal aspects that are important in dealing with geospatial information
In progress (GI-N2K)