Goals of CSIS

The goal of the center is to be a joint usage/research center available to researchers around the country for work related to Spatial Information Science and to create and provide a spatial database for research purposes.

Specifically, the center engages in the following types of activities:

  1. Creating, Developing, and Spreading Spatial Information Science
  2. A number of the phenomena and social problems that occur in the world are closely related to spatial factors. In any circumstance, there are certain basic and necessary methods that can be used to understand and provide solutions to all such phenomena and problems. Spatial Information Science is the study of these general methods and their applications. In other words, Spatial Information Science is the field that develops systematic methods of constructing, managing, analyzing, integrating, and communicating spatial data (i.e., natural, social, economic or cultural data with location information), and studies their applications to other fields. The primary activity of the center is to create, develop, and spread Spatial Information Science.
    (For more details, see Members, Projects and the Publications.)

  3. Developing Spatial Databases for Research Purposes
  4. Research in Spatial Information Science requires a large amount of spatial data. However, a great deal of time, labor, and expense is necessary for producing this data. It is difficult for individual researchers to gather such resources; moreover, it would result in inefficient reproduction of work. The center's second main activity is to create common spatial databases and develop and implement systems that will support work in many fields.
    (For more details, see Projects, Joint-Research and Services.)

  5. Promoting Joint Industry-Government-University Research
  6. Research in Spatial Information Science has the character of basic scientific research as well as applied and policy-oriented scientific research. Joint research between industry, the government, and universities is essential to the field. For example, research on the standardization of spatial data requires joint work with related government agencies, while venture research in new industries requires partnerships with private sector research institutions. The center's third main activity is to provide a space to foster these kinds of research.
    (For more details, see Projects, Joint-Research and Services.)