<s>
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
Web-Based	O
GIS	B-Application
)	O
,	O
or	O
Web	O
Geographic	B-Application
Information	I-Application
Systems	I-Application
,	O
are	O
GIS	B-Application
that	O
employ	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
to	O
facilitate	O
the	O
storage	O
,	O
visualization	O
,	O
analysis	O
,	O
and	O
distribution	O
of	O
spatial	B-General_Concept
information	I-General_Concept
over	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
involves	O
using	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
to	O
facilitate	O
GIS	B-Application
tasks	O
traditionally	O
done	O
on	O
a	O
desktop	O
computer	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
enabling	O
the	O
sharing	O
of	O
maps	O
and	O
spatial	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
and	O
Internet	O
GIS	B-Application
are	O
sometimes	O
used	O
interchangeably	O
,	O
they	O
are	O
different	O
concepts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
is	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
Internet	O
GIS	B-Application
,	O
which	O
is	O
itself	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
distributed	O
GIS	B-Application
,	O
which	O
itself	O
is	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
broader	O
Geographic	B-Application
information	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
common	O
application	O
of	O
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
is	O
Web	O
mapping	O
,	O
so	O
much	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
two	O
terms	O
are	O
often	O
used	O
interchangeably	O
in	O
much	O
the	O
same	O
way	O
as	O
Digital	O
mapping	O
and	O
GIS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
and	O
web	O
mapping	O
are	O
distinct	O
concepts	O
,	O
with	O
web	O
mapping	O
not	O
necessarily	O
requiring	O
a	O
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
Web	O
has	O
dramatically	O
increased	O
the	O
effectiveness	O
of	O
both	O
accessing	O
and	O
distributing	O
spatial	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
,	O
two	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
significant	O
challenges	O
of	O
desktop	O
GIS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
scale	O
of	O
the	O
Web	O
can	O
sometimes	O
make	O
finding	O
quality	O
and	O
reliable	O
data	O
a	O
challenge	O
for	O
GIS	B-Application
professionals	O
,	O
and	O
end	O
users	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
significant	O
amount	O
of	O
low-quality	O
,	O
poorly	O
organized	O
,	O
or	O
poorly	O
sourced	O
material	O
available	O
for	O
public	O
consumption	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
can	O
make	O
finding	O
spatial	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
a	O
time	O
consuming	O
activity	O
for	O
GIS	B-Application
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
history	O
of	O
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
is	O
very	O
closely	O
tied	O
to	O
the	O
history	O
of	O
geographic	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
,	O
Digital	O
mapping	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
or	O
the	O
Web	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
software	O
also	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
employ	O
GIS	B-Application
without	O
having	O
it	O
locally	O
installed	O
on	O
their	O
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
US	O
federal	O
government	O
made	O
the	O
TIGER	O
Mapping	O
Service	O
available	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
in	O
1995	O
,	O
which	O
facilitated	O
desktop	O
and	O
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
by	O
hosting	O
US	O
boundary	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1997	O
,	O
Esri	O
began	O
to	O
focus	O
on	O
their	O
desktop	O
GIS	B-Application
software	I-Application
,	O
which	O
in	O
2000	O
became	O
ArcGIS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
led	O
to	O
Esri	O
dominating	O
the	O
GIS	B-Application
industry	O
for	O
the	O
next	O
several	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2000	O
Esri	O
launched	O
the	O
Geography	O
Network	O
,	O
which	O
offered	O
some	O
web	O
GIS	B-Application
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2014	O
,	O
ArcGIS	B-Application
Online	O
replaced	O
this	O
,	O
and	O
offers	O
significant	O
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
functions	O
including	O
hosting	O
,	O
manipulating	O
,	O
and	O
visualizing	O
data	O
in	O
dynamic	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
has	O
numerous	O
applications	O
and	O
functions	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
manage	O
most	O
distributed	O
spatial	B-General_Concept
information	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
functions	O
can	O
be	O
divided	O
into	O
categories	O
of	O
Geospatial	B-General_Concept
web	O
services	O
including	O
web	O
feature	O
services	O
,	O
web	O
processing	O
services	O
,	O
and	O
web	B-Application
mapping	I-Application
services	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Geospatial	B-General_Concept
web	O
services	O
are	O
distinct	O
software	O
packages	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
employed	O
to	O
perform	O
a	O
function	O
with	O
spatial	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Web	O
feature	O
services	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
access	O
,	O
edit	O
,	O
and	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
hosted	O
geospatial	B-General_Concept
feature	O
datasets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Web	O
processing	O
services	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
perform	O
GIS	B-Application
calculations	O
on	O
spatial	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Web	O
processing	O
services	O
standardize	O
inputs	O
,	O
and	O
outputs	O
,	O
for	O
spatial	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
within	O
an	O
internet	O
GIS	B-Application
and	O
may	O
have	O
standardized	O
algorithms	O
for	O
spatial	O
statistics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Geospatial	B-Application
Semantic	I-Application
Web	I-Application
is	O
a	O
vision	O
to	O
include	O
geospatial	B-General_Concept
information	I-General_Concept
at	O
the	O
core	O
of	O
the	O
Semantic	O
Web	O
to	O
facilitate	O
information	B-Library
retrieval	I-Library
and	O
information	B-General_Concept
integration	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
vision	O
requires	O
the	O
definition	O
of	O
geospatial	B-General_Concept
ontologies	O
,	O
semantic	O
gazetteers	O
,	O
and	O
shared	O
technical	O
vocabularies	O
to	O
describe	O
geographic	B-General_Concept
phenomena	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Semantic	B-Application
Geospatial	I-Application
Web	I-Application
is	O
part	O
of	O
geographic	B-General_Concept
information	I-General_Concept
science	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
traditionally	O
trained	O
ethical	O
cartographers	O
try	O
to	O
minimize	O
these	O
errors	O
and	O
document	O
the	O
known	O
sources	O
of	O
error	O
,	O
including	O
where	O
the	O
data	O
originated	O
,	O
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
facilitates	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
maps	O
by	O
non-traditionally	O
trained	O
cartographers	O
and	O
,	O
more	O
significantly	O
,	O
facilitates	O
the	O
rapid	O
dissemination	O
of	O
their	O
potentially	O
erroneous	O
maps	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
this	O
democratization	O
of	O
GIS	B-Application
has	O
many	O
potential	O
positives	O
,	O
including	O
empowering	O
traditionally	O
disenfranchised	O
groups	O
of	O
people	O
,	O
it	O
also	O
means	O
that	O
a	O
wide	O
audience	O
can	O
see	O
bad	O
maps	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Further	O
,	O
malicious	O
actors	O
can	O
quickly	O
spread	O
intentionally	O
misleading	O
spatial	B-General_Concept
information	I-General_Concept
while	O
hiding	O
the	O
source	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
working	O
with	O
sensitive	O
data	O
,	O
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
may	O
expose	O
an	O
organization	O
to	O
the	O
additional	O
risk	O
of	O
having	O
its	O
data	O
breached	O
then	O
if	O
they	O
use	O
dedicated	O
hardware	O
and	O
a	O
Virtual	B-Application
Private	I-Application
Network	I-Application
to	O
access	O
that	O
hardware	O
remotely	O
over	O
the	O
internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
convenience	O
and	O
relatively	O
low	O
cost	O
of	O
Web	O
GIS	B-Application
often	O
prevents	O
this	O
from	O
being	O
implemented	O
.	O
</s>
