Geographic information systems (GIS), as a way to manage, map, and analyze geographic information, and the World Wide Web, as a way to make this information accessible to as many people as possible, are natural allies. Therefore, the term “Web GIS” has been around for years as a category for products and services. For example, the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), used to give an annual Best-Web GIS award “intended to increase awareness of Internet/Intranet mapping services that enable publishing and sharing of geographic information internally within an organization or externally with the public.”
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