University Consortium for
Geographic Information Science
www.ucgis.org

by John Wilson
Research Committee

During the 2003 Summer Assembly, the Research Committee formalized the idea of "research briefs" in order to help member institutions set research priorities in GI Science and to present the most current Geographic Information Science research agenda to the general public. These research briefs are two-page descriptions of important research topics that address an important national need and on which we expect to see significant progress in the immediate future. Presented in a standard format, each research brief outlines a key research issue by briefly identifying the research challenge, the significance of the research, and eminent research questions to address the issue. There are currently 16 research briefs posted on-line at http://www.ucgis.org/priorities/research/2002researchagenda.htm.

Because Geographic Information Science is a dynamic and continuously evolving
Research field, the research brief is an ideal format to reflect this change and keep member institutions and the general public informed of recent opportunities and challenges. The research committee anticipates using some of these research briefs to issue a call for papers for one or more paper sessions at future summer assemblies. Research briefs must be authored by faculty, staff, and/or students from two or more UCGIS member institutions and can be submitted at any time to the research committee. Once approved by the research committee, research briefs will be posted to the UCGIS website for two years and will then be archived. Archived research briefs can be revised and posted to the current research briefs webpage again with the approval of the research committee.

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