In recent years, aerospace, satellite telemetry, and computer technology have become increasingly important for the development of globalization. The information collected by these technologies can be described and stored in digital forms. In the article Mapping Opportunities (see References), Gewin (2004) pointed out that nanotechnology, bioscience, and geoinformatics would be likely to become the three major industries in the near future. Geoinformatics is also one of the high priority research areas emphasized by the National Science Council of Taiwan R.O.C. (NSC). Generally speaking, geoinformatics is an applied science, which integrates and unifies a variety of technologies for investigating, gathering, measuring, analyzing, managing, storing, and displaying geographical data. Several widely-used applications show the usefulness and importance of geoinformatics, such as geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), electronic maps, and so on. Because of advances in aerospace, satellite telemetry, and computer technology, the landscape of earth can now be easily imaged and digitized. To construct such a digital earth, many professionals from diverse fields like engineering, computer science, and the social domains are needed. In order to meet industrial demands at present and in the future, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy & Science established the undergraduate program for applied geoinformatics in 2008.
References
Gewin, V. (2004). Mapping opportunities. Nature, 427, 376-377.