those systems acquisitions were to be carried out in a rationally controlled and
orderly way a similar generalized model had to be developed for the complex of
data acquisition, photogrammetry, map compilation and drafting and map
distribution in an electronic environment.
It led to the recognition in Canada in general, but more particularly in the
cadastral reform of Quebec, that such a generalized concept to support the
rational development and introduction of Geographic or Land Information
Systems was needed (1). The concept was called Geomatics, a contraction of
geographic information and informatics. Parallel to a definition of Informatics,
Geomatics was subsequently defined as: the scientific investigation of the struc
ture and properties of geo-information, the methods of its capture, classification,
spatial definition, representation and use, and the infrastructure to secure its
optimal application (2).
Computer and Communication Technology in Surveying and Mapping, a Histo
rical Sketch
It has been a characteristic of the introduction of computer technology that we
began by trying to apply computer techniques to speed up the processes of the
individual elements of the surveys and mapping process, from geodetic
adjustments to photogrammetry to map construction to map finishing. In other
words, we copied electronically the processes we were familiar with.
Thus in the 60's, computers were applied initially to computations such as
geodetic and aerotiangulation adjustments, geodetic astronomical computations,
etcetera. In geography, it generated the so-called quantitative revolution in which
geographers felt that a panacea had been found because they could compute ever
larger optimization processes and extended statistical computations as computers
became more powerful. The use of maps fell into decline because the map-
making process was still largely manual and mechanical, slow and relatively
expensive and therefore seemingly irrelevant compared to apparent relevance of
the speed of the computer processes. Thus, when the first electronic engineering
drafting systems appeared, cartographers saw an opportunity to apply this techno
logy to speed up their production processes.
Later, in the mid 70's, the recognition developed that the data in digital form had
an intrinsic value and that the separate conventional technical processes would
become integrated in a digital environment. To fully benefit from this technology,
computer assisted cartography (with the original goal of making conventional
maps more efficiently), changed to multi-purpose cartographic databases, one
output of which could be conventional maps. These in turn changed to
information systems providing the spatial framework for both map and
information production and quantitative spatial analysis of thematic information
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