Why is space a slippery concept for information systems designers? Towards a definition of spatial information primitives for the tourism information base.

Abstract

This paper arises from puzzlement occasioned in designing information system solutions to business problems having a spatial dimension, and a conviction that the successful implementation of geographic information systems (GIS) needs an appreciation of the system context and culture rather more than a fascination with some kind of mathematical purity. Themes are developed reflecting research in progress into information systems supporting sustainable transport, and brings forward concerns addressed in earlier work undertaken for British Telecommunications plc into the pragmatic application of spatial analysis tools to business problems in the telecommunications industry [1],[2],[3]. It is driven by concerns to make “the best of a bad lot”, and attempts by applying a recently developed logical framework to pinpoint the bare minimum in simple spatial relations which could be added to what might be termed “normal” databases to achieve a workable link to current spatial analysis tools, and hence define a language that the sector might use in dialogue with the information systems and computer science disciplines.