Institutions and GIS: Emerging Frameworks
in the Information Age

Geographies of and in information societies must exist within a basic framework of institutions. Society organizes itself into for-profit, governmental, and non-profit institutions in order to provide for the well being of its members. Despite the large potential benefits from the use of new technologies and spatial information there is striking little knowledge to guide the transformation of organizations to respond to new opportunities and address priorities. What are the emerging frameworks for new institutions for geographies within the information society? What will be the paths of evolution for existing institutions in response to society's move to an information society? What processes and structures could maximize the utility of GIS in improving the efficiency, effectiveness, and equity of the work of the institution. These changes will provide the frameworks within which geographies in information societies will occur and these frameworks will set constraints or limits on the geographies. It is incumbent that we understand these limitations as we structure our institutions in the information age. 

Ideally we will examine all principles under which traditional institutions involved in geographic work have adhered. We should reaffirm them, discard them, adapt them, and create new ones as needed. This calls for scrutiny of current affinities with some disciplines and an examination of possible future affinities with different disciplines. It requires looking at the current division of institutions into categories and examining the current rules and laws which govern what each institution accepts responsibility for in the information age. 

The objective of the research is to formalize conceptual frameworks for existing and newly emerging institutions. We hope to better understand the inter-organizational linkages and new forms of organizations that are enabled by changing technologies. Case studies will be drawn from institutions such as: Disciplines and practitioners involved must include public administration, sociology of information utility, management, information science (libraries), geographers, NSGIC representatives, and Center for Neighborhood Technology. Information technology is a levelizer of hierarchically structured management systems, currently making it possible for a new firm of twenty employees to successfully compete with a mega corporation such as AT&T. Consortia of existing firms and agencies can compete globally with similar institutional groups from other nations. 

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