SDI Days 2012 > Abstract_View
Quo vadis, web cartography?

Dražen Odobašić, Mario Miler, Damir Medak, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Geodesy, Kačićeva 26, Zagreb, Croatia


Parallel with development of spatial data infrastructures, specification of interoperable standards and increasing access bandwidth to network resources a new generation of interlinked services which serve dynamic web maps was developed. Web cartography became interactive allowing user to create personalized maps.

Next big leap happened in the moment when the first global web map appeared in 2005, after Google bought, at that time unknown, Where 2 Technologies company which developed an application to display geographic data. Although with a simple cartographic style, for it to succeed it was necessary to change technology and abandon existing complex standards.

This presentation will cover development and application of technologies which enable contemporary web cartography. Contemporary web cartography, due to general technology intertwine, includes only a small number of tools which have a direct connection with cartography, specifically in cartographic presentation. Regardless of a wide technology range one must be familiar with, it is possible to use services based on a cloud service model which hide background technologies and shift focus onto cartographic tools. Presentation will also mention the influence of free and available spatial data as a foundation of contemporary cartographic analysis.

Keywords: cartography, Internet, cloud, web services

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