2004 UC Proceedings Abstract

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Data Democratization to Facism: 20 Years of State GIS Policy
Track: State and Local Government
Author(s): Walter Belokon

The state of Mississippi has had an on-going GIS development,coordination, and data distribution program for over twenty years. Many political and technological factors have impacted the status of these activities through time. Of late, many of these factors portend a limit to how and to what extent GIS users and the general public will have access to digital geographic data. Just as the general population has the technological means to access and use such data, will the political process deny data access to its citizenry? Perhaps we need to view data dissemination and access as basic rights of the public and need to counter the activities of those who would limit such access. As Alvin Toffler once mused, "In the future there will be those who have access to information, and those that do not."

Walter Belokon
MARIS
3825 Ridgewood Road
#715
Jackson , MS 39211
US
Phone: 601-432-6353
Fax: 601-432-6893
E-mail: wbelokon@ihl.state.ms.us