Introduction to “Geographic information science: a multi-disciplinary and multi-paradigmatic discipline”

Geographic Information Science (GISc) is a relatively young discipline whose research body revolves around Geographic Information System (GIS) research, technology, and service (Goodchild 1992). This research field is motivated by the desire to improve the efficiency and usability of geospatial technology and applications. Despite significant scientific accomplishments since its inception, there are still numerous challenges needed to be addressed by the GISc community. These challenges include continued research on topics such as the understanding and efficient utilization of the neogeography phenomenon, the meaningful representation and modeling of complex spatiotemporal phenomena, the 3D building information modeling, and the representation of other nonspatial attributes that may exist in space-time (Goodchild 2010). Comprehensive research agendas for GISc have, for example, been put forward by the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) and the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA). The articles included in this special issue “Geographic Information Science: A Multi-Disciplinary and MultiParadigmatic Discipline” investigate a subset of these current research challenges. This special issue illustrates the multidisciplinary research that is currently conducted in the “Doctoral College GIScience,” Interfaculty Department of Geoinformatics – Z_GIS at the Paris-Lodron University of Salzburg, Austria. Financed through the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), this Doctoral College started in fall 2011 for an initial 4-year funding period with the possibility of an extension for another two 4-year terms. Similar to the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (IGERT) in the US, the Doctoral College funds 10 doctoral students directly through the FWF. Another 10+ associated students are part of the Doctoral College but funded through other sources. The doctoral students are being supervised by a team of 10 core and 16 associated faculty. This faculty team spans across disciplinary boundaries, especially between the geo-disciplines and other natural sciences but also with formalized ties into computing and the social sciences. The research focus of the Doctoral College falls into three interconnected, interdisciplinary research clusters that include “Representations and Data Models”, “Time and Process Models”, and “Spatialization, Media, and Society. ” This special issue covers two main sections with three and four articles each and one introductory paper reflecting on the multidisciplinary and multiparadigmatic field of GISc. The first of the two main sections is titled “Representations and Spatial Data Models” and includes three methodological papers that suggest novel ways of spatial data representations and models. The second main section “GIScience Research with User Generated Content and Big Data” summarizes the main contributions of four papers that utilize user generated content and big data and apply them to spatial planning, mobility patterns, and movement measures. The majority of the authors, in most cases the lead author of each of the eight articles, is directly affiliated or has been affiliated with the Department of Geoinformatics – Z_GIS, University of Salzburg. Some of the authors which are not affiliated with the University of Salzburg currently serve as external supervisors of doctoral students in the “Doctoral College GIScience. ” Similar to a regular issue of Cartography and Geographic Information Science (CaGIS), all eight articles included in this special issue have undergone a rigorous, double-blind peer-review process. On average, each article was evaluated by 2+ international expert reviewers. In the remainder of this Editorial a brief synopsis of all eight papers will be provided. In their introductory paper, Thomas Blaschke and Helena Merschdorf analyze the research domain of GISc in an attempt to understand the multifaceted scientific nature of this academic field. The authors assess which disciplines contribute to the GISc research body on the basis of peer-reviewed publications available on the ISIWeb of Knowledge and SCOPUS databases. This article revisits the question of whether GISc is a science and emphasizes its multidisciplinary and multiparadigmatic nature. The history, research agenda, and scientific principles of GISc are also thoroughly reviewed.