The changes that have taken place in mapmaking over the past 50 years began with a new technology—geographic information systems. GIS technology is the central component of the larger category of geospatial technologies that combined to digitize geographic information.
These technologies unlock geographic information from the prior static 2D map, allowing intelligent queries that deliver answers about why something happens where. This way of looking at our world strengthens the understanding of how people, animals, the environment, and the built environment interact. The outcome is a more holistic knowledge using a data-driven problem-solving approach that we call The Science of Where™. ...continued ...