Geographical information systems conference showcases the future

Begun as a mapping software decades ago, geographical information systems, known as GIS, today functions to manage different time- and place-dependent data and allows different variables to be projected together, making for decision support systems and for vivid, sometimes revealing comparisons. Brightly colored maps can show everything from traffic patterns to global warming to animal migrations, and track changes over time, providing a lens through which researchers can easily view their data. GIS was first developed at Harvard in the 1960s by Howard T. Fisher.