Geospatial Web Services: The Evolution of Geospatial Data Infrastructure

Geographic information is a valuable resource for applications and analysis where location of objects and events can enhance policy, land use and decision-making activities. Interoperability has been an ongoing activity of the geodata user community for decades, focusing on formats and standards. The recent popularity and adoption of the Internet and Web Services have provided a new means of interoperability for geodata, differing from previous approaches to information exchange. This chapter provides an overview of Geospatial Web Services as better methods to achieve efficient data exchange. The emerging Web 2.0 phenomenon is also discussed in the context of this approach.