Extending the Quality Concept in Geo-Information Processing

Recent years in geographical information handling have been marked with constant change and innovation. Geographical information systems and enterprizes have continued to gravitate towards distributed models based on open systems technologies. Increasingly, successful geographical information markets are predicated on robust service infrastructures that offer guarantees on performance, availability, reliability and other critical quality characteristics. This makes a broader concept of quality that surpasses classical notions of spatial data quality and that comprises dynamic aspects of distributed geoprocessing in an increasingly complex Internet environment necessary. The paper reviews the trends shaping the future of geographical information markets, and existing quality frameworks and their limitations in view of current trends. Quality of service is introduced and positioned in the context of distributed geographical information processing as motivation for investigating the scalability of emerging geographical services infrastructures.