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Track: Application Development Techniques
Milosz Stasik
University of Idaho
McClure Hall, 3121
Moscow, ID 83843
Telephone: 208-885-4487
Fax: 208-885-2855
E-mail: stas9593@harrier.csrv.uidaho.edu
Pioti Jonkowski
Using MapObjects in the Internet-based Decision Support System
Defining Issue: Many decisions concerning development, planning, conservation, and the management of environment are complex issues requiring the cooperation of various involved parties. These types of problems are characterized by a slow decision making process evolving through a series of meetings, many of them public, involving multiple stakeholders that represent conflicting interests and agendas. GIS Solution: The Department of Geography of the University of Idaho has developed an original, GIS-based tool that allows multiple users to develop and propose their solutions to a spatial problem and actively participate in decision making sessions including voting. Methodology: Spatial Understanding and Decision Support System (SUDSS) allows users to work as a part of a collaborative group, introduce their own ideas, create simple maps and test them against sets of criteria related to a problem. To ease the decision making process the SUDSS is based on principle of distributed time and space. Users may
work at different places and at different times sharing their results with a group over the Internet. Usage of MapObjects provides means for implementation of simple spatial tools that are available and understandable to all users. Software: The SUDSS application was written using Microsoft Visual C++ and Visual Basic with implementation of Esri's MapObjects Version 1.0. In addition, Microsoft Internet controls are used to provide users with the ability to communicate over the Internet with the server and data repository. The purpose of the paper is to present advances in the application of decision support techniques in GIS, to show unconventional approach to collaboration issues, and to review interesting challenges encountered during development and testing of the software.
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