Geofoolery

I recently finished reading 'On the Grid' by Scott Huler after hearing about the book thanks to an interview with Huler on the public radio program 'Here and Now'. The book revolves around a question that most of us have probably kicked around at some point in time - how does the infrastructure that is essential to modern life work, and why does it even work at all? Although cable companies often do their best to prove otherwise, and we certainly don't like it when our power goes out, our infrastructure is remarkably reliable. Why is this, and why doesn't it simply collapse under the immense demand its users often place on it? Having worked a bit with infrastructure earlier in my career, collecting sewer and water system data in the field with GPS as part of mapping these systems, and of course having pondered the same kind of questions as Huler, I was hooked after listening to the interview. The book clearly sounded like a fascinating read. I wasn't disappointed. As much as I appreciate engineers, I found it very compelling and appealing that the book was written not by an engineer, but just an ordinary guy just trying to understand how all this stuff works.

Huler takes what I found to be a surprisingly through look at the infrastructure in his own locale of Raleigh, NC. His journey started in his backyard, eventually leading him through sewers and trying to trace the routes that various pipes and wires take from their origins to his house. As part of his journey, Huler obtained access to a panoply of services and facilities where few laypeople probably ever set foot, for example the control room of a nuclear plant and a cable TV headend. He was able to ask many questions of many different people behind the operation and maintenance of these systems, a chance many of us would surely jump at.  

As for those of us who are geospatially inclined, Huler throws us a pretty big bone. On several occasions, Huler pointed out the role that GIS now plays in the workings of major portions of modern infrastructure. He described GIS as the "systems that make it all happen" in the 'Here and Now' interview. In addition to mentioning GIS in relation to several types of infrastructure, Huler visited the City of Raleigh's GIS Department. Huler may not be a geospatial professional, but in the span of about three pages he sums up very well how GIS in local government often operates, as well as how crucial it has become to the operation of services and infrastructure provided by local government. I was surprised and pleased to see that he even touched on the question of charging for governmental GIS data. In Raleigh's case, the GIS department, as Huler puts it, "spent too much time gatekeeping" when it was charging for data. Being admittedly biased, I was enthusiastically applauding the GIS references in the book, to the point of being suprised that my wife didn't shove me out the front door out of sheer annoyance. Congratulations are in order for Colleen Sharpe, Raleigh's GIS Manager, and her staff for such great exposure to an audience not familiar with GIS, as well as clearly doing a good job of explaining GIS in a nutshell to Huler.