Geo-collaboration and P2P Geographic Information Systems: Current Developments and Research Challenges

Geo-collaboration appears when individuals or groups of individuals work together to solve spatial decision-making problems facilitated by geospatial information technologies. In this paper we focus on current developments in geo-collaboration where we take an example of public participatory geoinformation systems (PP GIS). This research field focuses on the issues related to the participation of the general public in democratic processes. PP GIS applications usually adhere to classical client/server architectures. In this paper we call for additional research in P2P computing related to its possible use in applications which support spatial decision-making processes. We conclude the paper with a summary of relevant research issues and our further research work.