Hello! My name is Haruno Tadokoro. I am from Tokyo, Japan.  I am a junior, majoring in Environmental Science and minoring in Politics & Governance. My mother got COVID the day before my departure to the U.S., so I missed the first week and just got back yesterday.Â
 
I did the quiz for this class Geography 291. While reading the first Chapter by Schuurman I was surprised to learn that Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which are instrumental to technologies like car navigation and Google Maps that we use almost every day, actually began to be developed back in the 1960s. I had always assumed that these systems were more recent innovations because they certainly seem so new and high-tech. Reading about where it all came from helped me appreciate how long ago humans started developing digital mapping and spatial analysis, even when computers were far more rudimentary than they are now.
Personally, I have utilized GIS-related tools in my travels. For example, I like to research where I am headed, how high it is, or use web-based maps to explore land and distance. Previously, I imagined that GIS was mostly for personal convenience, like taking the best route or discovering new places. But I learned GIS is far more than that and it’s used differently depending on whom is using it and why. It’s used by urban planners to design cities, environmental scientists to research climate change, and emergency responders to use in times of crisis.
This made me think of the way that technology itself is value-neutral, but we can use it in ways that give it meaning and purpose. GIS can be used to create communities that are safer, more efficient, and more sustainable, but it also raises concerns of data control and privacy. As a user who has been mostly at the surface level, I find myself now curious about learning more about what goes on behind the scenes with GIS and how it might further develop in the future. It is incredible to think that something created over 60 years ago still forms the basis for so many of the tools we utilize today.
I found Female researchers are using GIS to visualize gender inequality geographically. In Image 1, disparities and burdens based on gender are layered onto a map, visually representing factors such as the degree of impact on women across different regions.
