Invited Speakers

Professor Keith Clarke, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

The Future of Geocomputation

Abstract: Geocomputation is the "Art and Science of Solving Complex Spatial Problems with Computers. " The field sits across the ever narrowing divide between geographic information science and computer science, and includes modeling, spatial analysis and visualization. Computing has changed immensely over the last decades, and current developments such as Web 2.0, social networking, mobile computing and the cyberinfrastructure have changed the entire face of computing. What lies in the future for GeoComputation? In this presentation I will review computational history over the last 50 years and how it relates directly to Geography, and then provide some pointers to what geospatial computing might involve 50 years into the future. Future trends are examined in six areas: data fusion, mobile systems, ubiquitous computing, web-enabled computing, interactive multimedia, and biocomputing.

Biography: Keith was Chair of the UC Santa Barbara Geography Department 2001 to 2006. He was elected President of CaGIS in 2001, was selected as UCGIS Educator of the Year in 2002, and is a recipient of the 2005 John Wesley Powell Award, the USGS's highest award for achievement. In 2006, he became a Fellow of the ACSM, the Chair of the NAS Mapping Sciences Committee, and was appointed to the National Geographic Committee on Research and Exploration; in 2007, Keith received a UK Leverhulme Trust award and Fulbright Distinguished Scholarship. For Kieth Clarke's biographical sketch click here.