01617nas a2200133   4500008004100000022001400041245003900055210003600094260004200130520123800172100001701410700002001427856003601447       2009                        eng d  a1913-610200aEditorial: Geospatial (March 2009)0 aEditorial Geospatial March 2009  aOttawabTalent First Networkc02/20093 aThe recent emergence of MapQuest, Google Earth, Garmin GPS, and many other modern geospatial products make it seem that mapping technologies are a relatively new component of today's information technologies. In fact, the mapping industry was one of the original adopters of technology when geographic information systems were first developed over 40 years ago. The fruits of this backroom technology, once the domain of highly trained specialists, is now being leveraged by hundreds of millions, if not billions, of consumers around the world.

Open source geospatial technologies have followed this same path from niche technology to mainstream component and are now critical to many of the applications that business and consumers use on a daily basis. Google Earth, for instance, incorporates a critical component of the open source geospatial stack to deliver satellite imagery to several hundred million installations around the planet. In the following articles, you will learn more about how these critical niche technologies have evolved from small grassroots activities to thriving technology projects under the umbrella of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation, and ultimately into key commercial components of industry.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aMcIlhagga, Dave  uhttp://timreview.ca/article/233