National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis

This workshop explored how the geographic information community can work together to develop an Interoperable or Open environment that provides a framework for collaborative education that allows GIS educators to stay on the leading edge of both the technology and the changes happening in higher education. Technical issues, such as metadata, data formats and technology, and educational/institutional issues related to collaborative education and sharing of resources were considered at a workhop held in Soesterberg, The Netherlands on May 18-20, 1998. The meeting was organized by the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, University of California Santa Barbara; UNIGIS International, Manchester Metropolitan University; the Institute for Spatial Informatics, The Free University of Amsterdam (which also provided local arrangements for the workshop); and Hewlett Packard Netherlands. This final report on the meeting includes a white paper (Interoperability for GIScience Education: Building a Flexible Knowledge and Resource Base) by Ian Heywood and Karen Kemp and extended abstracts of position statements by participants.