{"id":1256,"date":"2012-09-07T09:02:22","date_gmt":"2012-09-07T16:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/?p=1256"},"modified":"2012-09-07T09:02:22","modified_gmt":"2012-09-07T16:02:22","slug":"the-50th-anniversary-of-gis","status":"publish","type":"insider","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis","title":{"rendered":"The 50th Anniversary of GIS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some events, like birthdays, weddings, and graduations, are easy to mark on the calendar. Others, like the beginning of a social movement, or a language\u2014or the invention of GIS\u2014are harder to pinpoint. However, the confluence of three pivotal events in 1962 and 1963 makes this as good a time as any to celebrate a half century of GIS.
\nThe first event was the establishment of the Canada Land Inventory<\/a> (CLI) in 1962. The CLI set out to produce about 1,500 maps of land use and land capabilities at 1:50,000 and 1:250,000 scales. Though the maps were made by traditional manual methods, Roger Tomlinson<\/a> (then employed by Spartan Air Services of Ottawa) convinced the head of CLI that computers could be used to automate map analysis. CLI invited Tomlinson to define the functional requirements of what would later be called the Canada Geographic Information System. His carefully considered use of the qualifier \u201cgeographic\u201d caught on, and has created opportunities and challenges for the discipline of geography ever since.
\n<\/p>\n

\"\u201cTypicalWe’ve come a long way, baby: \u201cTypical Non-Automatic Tracing
\nType Transcription Device coupled to an IBM 526 Card Punch.\u201d
\nIn Feasibility Report of Computer Mapping System<\/a>, 1963.<\/em><\/p>\n

In August 1963, just as Tomlinson delivered his feasibility report<\/a> to the CLI, Edward Horwood of the University of Washington organized the \u201cFirst Annual Conference on Urban Planning Information Systems and Programs.\u201d Within a few years, that event became the annual conference of a new organization called the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA<\/a>). \u201cUrban and Regional Information Systems\u201d eventually became known as Geographic Information Systems, and the 50th annual URISA conference\u2014now called \u201cGIS-Pro<\/a>\u201d\u2014takes place in 2012.
\nHorwood spent most of a month at Northwestern University in 1963 teaching a short course about computer handling and mapping of census data. One participant in that course was Howard Fisher<\/a>, an architect who taught planning and design at Northwestern. Fisher was inspired to develop his own computer mapping system, and with the help of programmer Betty Benson, soon developed a working prototype of SYMAP<\/a>. With a grant from the Ford Foundation, Fisher later founded the Laboratory for Computer Graphics <\/a>at Harvard, where he oversaw an important strand of the evolution of computer mapping into GIS.
\nWhether we choose these milestones or others as the origins of GIS, the fact remains that GIS has come a long way, baby, in a relatively short period of time. Its impact extends far beyond the hundreds of thousands of GIS professionals at work around the world. The recent Penn State\u2013Public Broadcasting video series Geospatial Revolution<\/em><\/a> dramatizes the far-reaching impact of GIS and related technologies on how we think, act, and interact. At its 50th anniversary, GIS has itself become a kind of movement, and a kind of language.
\nMore information:
\n<\/strong>
\nAn Introduction to the Use of Electronic Computers in the Storage, Compilation and Assessment of Natural and Economic Data for the Evaluation of Marginal Lands<\/a>, by Roger Tomlinson. 1962. \u201cThis is the paper that started the work on GIS in the Government of Canada.\u201d \u2014 Roger Tomlinson
\nFeasibility Report of Computer Mapping System<\/a>, by Roger Tomlinson. Agricultural Rehabilitation and Development Administration, Department of Agriculture, Government of Canada, August 1963.
\nAn Introduction to the Geo-Information System of the Canada Land Inventory<\/a>, by Roger Tomlinson. 1967.
\nA Geographic Information System for Regional Planning<\/a>, by Roger Tomlinson. August 1968.
\n“The Canada Geographic Information System,” by Roger Tomlinson. In Timothy Foresman, Ed. The History of Geographic Information Systems: Perspectives from the Pioneers<\/em><\/a>. Prentice Hall, 1998.
\nCharting the Unknown: How Computer Mapping at Harvard Became GIS<\/a>, <\/em>by Nick Chrisman<\/em>. Esri Press, 2006.
\nAn Early Excursion into Computational Geography<\/em>, by Duane Marble. Unpublished manuscript, 2010.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[275952],"tags":[277082,277092,277102,277112,241,277122,277132,277142,209742,277152,277162,277172,277182,277192,11052],"class_list":["post-1256","insider","type-insider","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-betty-benson","tag-canada-land-inventory","tag-edward-horwood","tag-geospatial-revolution","tag-gis","tag-gis-pro","tag-harvard","tag-laboratory-for-computer-graphics","tag-penn-state","tag-roger-tomlinson","tag-spartan-air-services","tag-symap","tag-university-of-washington","tag-urban-and-regional-information-systems-association","tag-urisa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe 50th Anniversary of GIS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 50th Anniversary of GIS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some events, like birthdays, weddings, and graduations, are easy to mark on the calendar. Others, like the beginning of a social movement, or a language\u2014or the invention of GIS\u2014are harder to pinpoint. However, the confluence of three pivotal events in 1962 and 1963 makes this as good a time as any to celebrate a half […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Esri\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/themes\/esri_newsroom\/placeholders\/Newsroom-Keyart-Wide.jpg\" \/><meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/themes\/esri_newsroom\/placeholders\/Newsroom-Keyart-Wide.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Esri\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis\",\n\t \"name\": \"The 50th Anniversary of GIS\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/files\/2012\/08\/August1963.gif\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2012-09-07T16:02:22+00:00\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis#primaryimage\",\n\t \"url\": \"\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"The 50th Anniversary of GIS\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Esri\",\n\t \"description\": \"Esri Newsroom\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The 50th Anniversary of GIS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The 50th Anniversary of GIS","og_description":"Some events, like birthdays, weddings, and graduations, are easy to mark on the calendar. Others, like the beginning of a social movement, or a language\u2014or the invention of GIS\u2014are harder to pinpoint. However, the confluence of three pivotal events in 1962 and 1963 makes this as good a time as any to celebrate a half […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis","og_site_name":"Esri","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/themes\/esri_newsroom\/placeholders\/Newsroom-Keyart-Wide.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""},{"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/themes\/esri_newsroom\/placeholders\/Newsroom-Keyart-Wide.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Esri","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis","name":"The 50th Anniversary of GIS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/files\/2012\/08\/August1963.gif","datePublished":"2012-09-07T16:02:22+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/the-50th-anniversary-of-gis#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The 50th Anniversary of GIS"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/","name":"Esri","description":"Esri Newsroom","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insider\/1256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insider"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/insider"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insider\/1256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}