Geographic Information Systems in Developing Countries – What are the Ethical Issues we need to be aware of ? / Geografické Informační Systémy A Jejich Využití V Rozvojových Zemích - Jakým Etickým Otázkám Musíme Čelit?

Abstract

The use of GIS in developing countries has been coined as an oxymoron for several reasons, but mainly due to the fact that the historical burden of maps is to have been used as a tool of control and technological dominance. Participatory approaches in mapping and GIS allow to bring a greater degree of social responsibility and ethics in research and visualisation of local spatial knowledge. The article focuses on the description of selected reasons that led to the sceptical attitude towards GIS, and to identify the basic ethical issues of collection and interpretation of spatial information in developing countries on an example of mapping water resources in the village Koffiekraal in South Africa. AbstraktVyužití geografických informačních systémů (GIS) v rozvojových zemích se musí potýkat s historickou skepsí, kterou mapy, jako nástroj moci, mají mezi původními obyvateli. Participativní přístupy v mapování a GIS se snaží přistupovat k místním prostorovým znalostem s větší mírou společenské a etické zodpovědnosti. Článek se soustředí na popis vybraných důvodů, které vedly ke skeptickému postoji vůči GIS, a na identifikaci základních etických otázek sběru a interpretace prostorových informací v rozvojových zemích na příkladu mapování vodních zdrojů ve vesnici Koffiekraal v Jihoafrické republice.

Mapping Is Caring: Fostering Forest Preservation through Young Orang Rimba Initiatives

“…P-mapping involves local people and can disclose the peculiar knowledge of indigenous people, enhance geographic understanding, and open discussions of the endeavors and expectations of indigenous people [20,21]. Along with that, Geographic Information System (GIS) has been used to tackle issues with reasonable costs [22,23] and at the same time exploit the local spatial knowledge [24]. Through that, participatory GIS (PGIS) was developed in the 1990s as a response to mapping needs and the function of GIS in social empowerment [25].…”

Visual Comparison of Web Map Changes of Openstreetmap and Commercial Online-Map Providers

“…It has the historical burden of maps being used as a tool of control and technological dominance, largely by Western powers (Pickles, 1995). Nevertheless, participatory approaches in mapping and GIS allow social responsibility and ethics to be combined with research and with the visualisation of local spatial knowledge (Blatt, 2012;Fagerholm, 2014;Chambers, 2003;Pánek, 2013a). Creating community maps has an empowering effect on the participating members of the community.…”