English
2013/11/05
Social informatics, Sophisticated information society, ICT, GIS,
Decision making, Public choice
1. Potential of Information Systems Connecting Societies and People
In today’s society, various forms of information systems are being developed one after another and our everyday life is undergoing remarkable changes amid the advancement of information technologies. Among various forms of information systems, geographic information systems (GIS) have come into particularly widespread use in various scenes of our life, not only in research activities but also in various services provided by government agencies and businesses as well as in social activities by citizens. The advent of GIS technologies has not only enabled one-way provision of information but also realized two-way information exchange and information sharing among various entities by utilizing digital maps.
In the background of this remarkable development is the distinctive feature of GIS that, unlike other forms of information systems, is capable of displaying various kinds of information on digital maps, thereby enabling the provision and sharing of such information. Also, by linking with other information technologies such as the Internet, GIS has begun to provide information to the public at large and support decision making. There is a good possibility that the active use of a greater variety of information systems, other than GIS, will further promote citizens’ participation in community and environment building.
2. GIS as a Social Information System
GIS is a social information system with the following characteristics that is expected to play a major role in connecting people and societies:
(1)GIS allows comprehensive management and processing of data incorporating positional or spatial information (spatial data) as well as visual display of the data on a digital map, thereby enabling quick analysis and decision making.
(2)Using GIS, it is possible to retrieve a large amount of spatial data from various information sources and create a database utilizing digital maps.
(3)It is possible to convert, accumulate, search for and analyze data in a database efficiently to generate maps for information provision and sharing, as well as for supporting decision making.
As shown in the following drawing, GIS has various tool functions such as database creation, information analysis, information provision and sharing, and decision-making support. It is an information system closely connected to the society, and its role in our public choice is hence very important.
3. Study Approaches
In consideration of these circumstances, I would like to try following study approaches, mainly on GIS, from the viewpoint of Social Information System Studies:
(1) Theories of Social Information Systems
Major examples of information systems will be examined as to how they have been developed and used in the society so as to gain understanding of the characteristics of and interrelations among diverse information systems.
(2) Theories of Decision Making
The meaning of information provision and sharing in the process of decision making will be discussed by examining specific examples of decision making systems that utilize various information systems in today’s society.
(3) Theories of Public Choice
The roles of information systems in public choice will be discussed, citing specific examples of community-based cooperative activities initiated by various entities composed primarily of individual citizens.
4. Recent Studies
My studies to date have been mostly those using GIS, and can be classified roughly into the following three categories:
(1) Studies based on land utilization analysis using GIS
Use of GIS as an information analysis tool, a database creation tool, and/or an information provision and sharing tool.
(2) Studies on information provision and sharing techniques using GIS and IT
Use of GIS as an information provision and sharing tool and a decision-making support tool.
(3) Studies on environmental awareness and pro-environmental behavior
Means to use social information systems to promote citizens’ participation in community and environment building.
5. Finally…
Looking back at my career as a researcher, I believe the graduate school offers a very precious time, because as a student one can devote oneself to study and research. It will be a great pleasure for me to work with students willing to learn and break ground for new study areas with fresh ideas during this important period, through as much trial and error process as possible, and to get inspired by each other.