<s>
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
name	O
given	O
to	O
a	O
concept	O
by	O
former	O
US	O
vice	O
president	O
Al	O
Gore	O
in	O
1998	O
,	O
describing	O
a	O
virtual	O
representation	O
of	O
the	O
Earth	O
that	O
is	O
georeferenced	O
and	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
world	O
's	O
digital	O
knowledge	O
archives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
speech	O
prepared	O
for	O
the	O
California	O
Science	O
Center	O
in	O
Los	O
Angeles	O
on	O
January	O
31	O
,	O
1998	O
,	O
Gore	O
described	O
a	O
digital	O
future	O
where	O
schoolchildren	O
-	O
indeed	O
all	O
the	O
world	O
's	O
citizens	O
-	O
could	O
interact	O
with	O
a	O
computer-generated	O
three-dimensional	O
spinning	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
and	O
access	O
vast	O
amounts	O
of	O
scientific	O
and	O
cultural	O
information	O
to	O
help	O
them	O
understand	O
the	O
Earth	O
and	O
its	O
human	O
activities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
aspects	O
of	O
his	O
proposal	O
have	O
been	O
realized	O
-	O
for	O
instance	O
,	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
geo-browsers	I-Application
such	O
as	O
NASA	B-Language
World	I-Language
Wind	I-Language
,	O
Google	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
and	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
Bing	B-Application
Maps	I-Application
3D	O
for	O
commercial	O
,	O
social	O
and	O
scientific	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
imagined	O
in	O
the	O
speech	O
has	O
been	O
defined	O
as	O
an	O
"	O
organizing	O
vision	O
"	O
to	O
steer	O
scientists	O
and	O
technologists	O
towards	O
a	O
shared	O
goal	O
,	O
promising	O
substantial	O
advances	O
in	O
many	O
scientific	O
and	O
engineering	O
areas	O
,	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
Information	O
superhighway	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
noteworthy	O
excerpts	O
from	O
the	O
Beijing	O
Declaration	O
on	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
,	O
ratified	O
September	O
12	O
,	O
2009	O
at	O
the	O
6th	O
International	O
Symposium	O
on	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
in	O
Beijing	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
is	O
an	O
integral	O
part	O
of	O
other	O
advanced	O
technologies	O
including	O
:	O
earth	O
observation	O
,	O
geo-information	O
systems	O
,	O
global	O
positioning	O
systems	O
,	O
communication	O
networks	O
,	O
sensor	O
webs	O
,	O
electromagnetic	O
identifiers	O
,	O
virtual	O
reality	O
,	O
grid	O
computation	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
should	O
play	O
a	O
strategic	O
and	O
sustainable	O
role	O
in	O
addressing	O
such	O
challenges	O
to	O
human	O
society	O
as	O
natural	O
resource	O
depletion	O
,	O
food	O
and	O
water	O
insecurity	O
,	O
energy	O
shortages	O
,	O
environmental	O
degradation	O
,	O
natural	O
disasters	O
response	O
,	O
population	O
explosion	O
,	O
and	O
,	O
in	O
particular	O
,	O
global	O
climate	O
change.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
group	O
of	O
international	O
geographic	O
and	O
environmental	O
scientists	O
from	O
government	O
,	O
industry	O
,	O
and	O
academia	O
brought	O
together	O
by	O
the	O
Vespucci	O
Initiative	O
for	O
the	O
Advancement	O
of	O
Geographic	O
Information	O
Science	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Joint	O
Research	O
Centre	O
of	O
the	O
European	O
Commission	O
recently	O
published	O
"	O
Next-Generation	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
"	O
a	O
position	O
paper	O
that	O
suggests	O
its	O
eight	O
key	O
elements	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Not	O
one	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
,	O
but	O
multiple	O
connected	O
globes/infrastructures	O
addressing	O
the	O
needs	O
of	O
different	O
audiences	O
:	O
citizens	O
,	O
communities	O
,	O
policymakers	O
,	O
scientists	O
,	O
educationalists	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Significant	O
progress	O
towards	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
has	O
been	O
achieved	O
over	O
the	O
last	O
decade	O
as	O
collected	O
in	O
a	O
survey	O
paper	O
by	O
Mahdavi-Amiri	O
et	O
al.	O
,	O
including	O
work	O
in	O
these	O
categories	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Between	O
1998	O
and	O
2001	O
,	O
the	O
NASA-chaired	O
Interagency	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
Working	O
Group	O
(	O
IDEW	O
)	O
contributed	O
to	O
this	O
growth	O
with	O
a	O
particular	O
focus	O
on	O
interoperability	O
issues	O
,	O
giving	O
rise	O
to	O
the	O
Web	B-Application
Map	I-Application
Service	I-Application
standard	O
among	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
scientific	O
use	O
of	O
geo-browser	O
virtual	B-Application
globes	I-Application
such	O
as	O
Google	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
,	O
NASA	B-Language
's	I-Language
World	I-Language
Wind	I-Language
,	O
and	O
ESRI	O
's	O
ArcGIS	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
has	O
grown	O
significantly	O
as	O
their	O
functionality	O
has	O
improved	O
and	O
with	O
the	O
KML	B-Application
format	I-Application
having	O
become	O
the	O
de	O
facto	O
standard	O
for	O
globe	O
visualizations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numerous	O
examples	O
can	O
be	O
viewed	O
at	O
the	B-Application
Google	I-Application
Earth	O
Outreach	O
Showcase	O
and	O
at	O
the	O
World	B-Language
Wind	I-Language
Java	O
Demo	O
Applications	O
and	O
Applets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
phenomenon	O
is	O
seen	O
as	O
an	O
emerging	O
Geoweb	B-Application
that	O
provides	O
Application	O
Programming	O
Interfaces	O
(	O
API	B-General_Concept
's	O
)	O
to	O
software	O
developers	O
and	O
increasingly	O
user-friendly	O
web	O
mapping	O
software	O
to	O
both	O
scientists	O
and	O
the	O
public	O
at	O
large	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
International	O
Journal	O
of	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
peer-reviewed	O
research	O
journal	O
,	O
launched	O
in	O
2008	O
,	O
concerned	O
with	O
the	O
science	O
and	O
technology	O
of	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
and	O
its	O
applications	O
in	O
all	O
major	O
disciplines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
International	O
Society	O
for	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
non-political	O
,	O
non-governmental	O
and	O
not-for-profit	O
international	O
organization	O
,	O
principally	O
for	O
promotion	O
of	O
academic	O
exchange	O
,	O
science	O
and	O
technology	O
innovation	O
,	O
education	O
,	O
and	O
international	O
collaboration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
International	O
Symposia	O
on	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
(	O
ISDE	O
)	O
have	O
been	O
held	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
have	O
been	O
seven	O
ISDE	O
symposia	O
and	O
three	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
Summits	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
4th	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
Summit	O
was	O
held	O
in	O
Wellington	O
,	O
New	O
Zealand	O
in	O
September	O
,	O
2012	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
Reference	O
Model	O
(	O
DERM	O
)	O
was	O
coined	O
by	O
Tim	O
Foresman	O
in	O
context	O
with	O
a	O
vision	O
for	O
an	O
all	O
encompassing	O
geospatial	O
platform	O
as	O
an	O
abstract	O
for	O
information	O
flow	O
in	O
support	O
of	O
Al	O
Gore	O
's	O
vision	O
for	O
a	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
reference	O
model	O
seeks	O
to	O
facilitate	O
and	O
promote	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
georeferenced	O
information	O
from	O
multiple	O
sources	O
over	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
reference	O
model	O
defines	O
a	O
fixed	O
global	O
reference	O
frame	O
for	O
the	O
Earth	O
using	O
four	O
principles	O
of	O
a	O
digital	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
namely	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
acquisition	O
using	O
signal	O
processing	O
theory	O
(	O
sampling	B-Algorithm
and	O
quantizing	B-Algorithm
)	O
for	O
assigning	O
binary	O
values	O
from	O
continuous	O
analog	O
or	O
other	O
digital	O
sources	O
to	O
the	O
discrete	O
cell	O
partitions	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
DGGS	O
are	O
characterized	O
by	O
the	O
properties	O
of	O
their	O
cell	O
structure	O
,	O
geo-encoding	O
,	O
quantization	B-Algorithm
strategy	O
and	O
associated	O
mathematical	O
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Technology	O
developments	O
that	O
support	O
the	O
current	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
technological	O
framework	O
can	O
be	O
traced	O
to	O
U.S.	O
computing	O
advances	O
derived	O
from	O
the	B-Application
Cold	I-Application
War	I-Application
competition	O
,	O
the	B-Application
space	I-Application
race	I-Application
,	O
and	O
commercial	O
innovations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
philosophical	O
foundations	O
for	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
more	O
closely	O
aligned	O
with	O
the	O
increased	O
awareness	O
of	O
global	O
changes	O
and	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
better	O
understand	O
the	O
concepts	O
of	O
sustainability	O
for	O
the	O
planet	O
's	O
survival	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
Fall	O
1998	O
until	O
Fall	O
2000	O
,	O
NASA	O
led	O
the	O
U.S.	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
initiative	O
in	O
cooperation	O
with	O
its	O
sister	O
government	O
agencies	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
Federal	O
Geospatial	O
Data	O
Committee	O
(	O
FGDC	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1999	O
,	O
NASA	O
was	O
selected	O
to	O
head	O
a	O
new	O
Interagency	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
Working	O
Group	O
(	O
IDEW	O
)	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
reputation	O
for	O
technology	O
innovations	O
and	O
its	O
focus	O
on	O
the	O
study	O
of	O
planetary	O
change	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
titular	O
focus	O
was	O
considered	O
necessary	O
to	O
help	O
align	O
over	O
17	O
government	O
agencies	O
and	O
keep	O
sustainability	O
and	O
Earth	O
oriented	O
applications	O
as	O
a	O
guiding	O
principle	O
for	O
the	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
enterprise	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Components	O
for	O
development	O
of	O
3-D	O
Earth	O
graphic-user-interfaces	O
(	O
GUIs	O
)	O
were	O
placed	O
into	O
various	O
technological	O
sectors	O
to	O
stimulate	O
cooperative	O
development	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
initially	O
limited	O
to	O
government	O
personnel	O
,	O
industry	O
and	O
academia	O
were	O
early	O
observers	O
attending	O
IDEW	O
workshops	O
to	O
discuss	O
topics	O
such	O
as	O
,	O
visualization	O
,	O
information	B-General_Concept
fusion	I-General_Concept
,	O
standards	O
and	O
interoperability	O
,	O
advanced	O
computational	O
algorithms	O
,	O
digital	O
libraries	O
and	O
museums	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2000	O
,	O
at	O
a	O
special	O
IDEW	O
meeting	O
hosted	O
by	O
Oracle	B-Application
Corporation	I-Application
in	O
Herndon	O
,	O
Virginia	O
,	O
industry	O
representatives	O
demonstrated	O
several	O
promising	O
3-D	O
visualization	O
prototypes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Just	O
as	O
the	O
spectacular	O
Apollo	O
photography	O
of	O
Earthrise	O
provided	O
an	O
inspiring	O
Earth-centric	O
image	O
for	O
new	O
generations	O
to	O
appreciate	O
the	O
fragility	O
of	O
our	O
biosphere	O
,	O
the	O
3-D	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earths	I-General_Concept
began	O
inspiring	O
growing	O
numbers	O
of	O
people	O
to	O
the	O
possibility	O
of	O
better	O
understanding	O
and	O
possibly	O
saving	O
our	O
planet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Introduction	O
of	O
satellite	O
data	O
into	O
commercially	O
accessible	O
spatial	O
toolboxes	O
significantly	O
advanced	O
the	O
capacity	O
to	O
map	O
,	O
monitor	O
,	O
and	O
manage	O
our	O
planet	O
's	O
resources	O
and	O
provide	O
a	O
unifying	O
perspective	O
on	O
the	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
vision	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
Al	O
Gore	O
lost	O
the	O
2000	O
presidential	O
election	O
,	O
the	O
incoming	O
administration	O
considered	O
the	O
programmatic	O
moniker	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
a	O
political	O
liability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
was	O
relegated	O
to	O
a	O
minority	O
status	O
within	O
the	O
FGDC	O
,	O
used	O
primarily	O
to	O
define	O
3-D	O
visualization	O
reference	O
models	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1999	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
Chinese	O
government	O
's	O
full	O
backing	O
,	O
the	O
inaugural	O
International	O
Symposium	O
on	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
in	O
Beijing	O
provided	O
a	O
venue	O
for	O
the	O
extensive	O
international	O
support	O
for	O
implementing	O
the	O
Gore	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
vision	O
introduced	O
a	O
year	O
earlier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hundreds	O
of	O
digital	B-General_Concept
earth	I-General_Concept
cities	O
created	O
by	O
governments	O
and	O
universities	O
resulted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
China	O
,	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
became	O
a	O
metaphor	O
for	O
modernization	O
and	O
automation	O
with	O
computers	O
,	O
leading	O
to	O
its	O
incorporation	O
into	O
a	O
five-year	O
modernization	O
plan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originating	O
from	O
China	O
's	O
satellite	O
remote	B-Application
sensing	I-Application
community	O
,	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
prowess	O
spread	O
to	O
a	O
range	O
of	O
applications	O
including	O
flood	O
predictions	O
,	O
dust	O
cloud	O
modeling	O
,	O
environmental	O
assessments	O
,	O
and	O
city	O
planning	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
China	O
has	O
been	O
omnipresent	O
at	O
all	O
international	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
conferences	O
since	O
and	O
has	O
recently	O
founded	O
the	O
International	O
Society	O
for	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
NGOs	O
created	O
by	O
the	O
Chinese	O
Academy	O
of	O
Sciences	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2009	O
,	O
the	O
International	O
Symposium	O
on	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
returned	O
to	O
Beijing	O
for	O
its	O
6th	O
meeting	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2000	O
,	O
the	O
United	O
Nations	O
Environment	O
Programme	O
(	O
UNEP	O
)	O
advanced	O
the	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
to	O
enhance	O
decision-makers	O
'	O
access	O
to	O
information	O
for	O
then	O
Secretary-General	O
Kofi	O
Annan	O
and	O
the	O
United	O
Nations	O
Security	O
Council	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
a	O
universal	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
for	O
UNEP.net,	O
suitable	O
for	O
members	O
of	O
Security	O
Council	O
,	O
that	O
is	O
non-scientists	O
,	O
did	O
not	O
exist	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Keyhole	O
Technology	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
(	O
later	O
purchased	O
in	O
2004	O
by	O
Google	B-Application
and	O
to	O
become	O
Google	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
)	O
was	O
contracted	O
to	O
develop	O
and	O
demonstrate	O
the	O
first	O
full	O
globe	O
3-D	O
interactive	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
using	O
web-stream	O
data	O
from	O
a	O
distributed	B-Operating_System
database	I-Operating_System
located	O
on	O
servers	O
around	O
the	O
planet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
UNEP	O
provided	O
further	O
public	O
demonstrations	O
for	O
this	O
early	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
system	O
at	O
the	O
World	O
Summit	O
on	O
Sustainable	O
Development	O
in	O
September	O
,	O
2002	O
at	O
Johannesburg	O
,	O
South	O
Africa	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
seeking	O
an	O
engineering	O
approach	O
to	O
system-wide	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
model	O
,	O
recommendations	O
were	O
made	O
at	O
the	O
3rd	O
UNGIWG	O
Meeting	O
,	O
June	O
2002	O
,	O
Washington	O
,	O
D.C.	O
for	O
creating	O
a	O
document	O
on	O
the	O
Functional	O
User	O
Requirements	O
for	O
geo-browsers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
proposal	O
was	O
communicated	O
to	O
the	O
ISDE	O
Secretariat	O
in	O
Beijing	O
and	O
the	O
organizing	O
committee	O
for	O
the	O
3rd	O
International	O
Symposium	O
on	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
and	O
agreement	O
was	O
reached	O
by	O
the	O
Chinese	O
Academy	O
of	O
Sciences-sponsored	O
Secretariat	O
to	O
host	O
the	O
first	O
of	O
the	O
two	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
geo-browser	O
meetings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Japan	O
,	O
led	O
by	O
Keio	O
University	O
and	O
JAXA	O
,	O
has	O
also	O
played	O
a	O
prominent	O
international	O
role	O
in	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
helping	O
to	O
create	O
the	O
Digital	O
Asia	O
Network	O
with	O
a	O
secretariat	O
located	O
in	O
Bangkok	O
to	O
promote	O
regional	O
cooperation	O
and	O
initiatives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Citizens	O
in	O
the	O
Gifu	O
Prefecture	O
upload	O
information	O
to	O
community-scale	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Earth	I-General_Concept
programs	O
with	O
from	O
their	O
smartphones	B-Application
on	O
topics	O
ranging	O
from	O
first	O
sightings	O
of	O
fireflies	O
in	O
spring	O
to	O
location	O
of	O
blocked	O
handicap	O
access	O
ramps	O
.	O
</s>
