New technology is changing the face of mapping organizations around the world. Are national mapping agencies and traditional mapmakers able to keep up? The question is posed at the Spatial Roundtable by Mark Cygan, Esri’s map, chart, data production, and spatial data infrastructure (SDI) industry manager. Cygan and other industry leaders discuss which strategies and resources are becoming more important to mapping organizations.
“Society is changing, and so are its expectations of what maps are and how they should be used,” says Cygan. “The industry has experienced a 50 percent drop in the production of paper maps, charts, and atlases in the last decade. Instances of maps generated online, however, have increased.”
Cygan believes that mapping organizations can ride the new wave of change by providing maps and charts in the form of electronic media and derivative map and data products for the web and mobile devices. However, Cygan says, “If they don’t adapt, they run the risk of being washed away.”
Visit spatialroundtable.com and join the discussion.
