Geo-communication and web-based geospatial infrastructure

The introduction of web-services as index-portals based on geoinformation has changed the conditions for both content and form of geocommunication. A high number of players and interactions (as well as a very high number of all kinds of information and combinations of these) characterize web-services, where maps are only a part of the whole. These new conditions demand new ways of modelling the processes leading to geo-communication. One new aspect is the fact that the service providers have become a part of the geo-communication process with influence on the content. Another aspect is that there no longer is a given relation between producer and end user, as it was the case in the 'good old days' when maps were maps. A third aspect of the new way of modelling is the distinction between active and passive components in the infrastructure