GIS, society, and decisions: A new direction with SUDSS in command

Geographic information systems (GIS) have become easier to use and very popular in recent years. However, many users are finding that while the technology currently provides an impressive and expanding toolbox for scientific and technical analyses to support problem-solving, the application of GIS in group decision-making contexts- particularly in the public sphere ~ tends to identify weaknesses in the technology. This paper proposes a vision for a new kind of GIS for an altogether different role: societal decision-making. Following the evolution of terminology in the literature, the name proposed for this class of technology is "Spatial Understanding and Decision Support Systems " (SUDSS). The name offered for that class of activity in which th