The US National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis: an overview of the agendas for research and education

In August of 1988, the National Science Foundation announced the establishment of a National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA). The Center was awarded to a consortium led by the University of California at Santa Barbara, and including the State University of New York at Buffalo and the University of Maine. This paper describes the research and educational agendas of the NCGIA. Basic research at the NCGIA is organized into Research Initiatives, which provide focussed inter-disciplinary, inter-campus research projects of 12-24 months' duration. Research Initiatives begin with Specialist Meetings which bring together researchers from two or more NCGIA sites, from government, from the private sector, and from other academic institutions. -from Authors