Applied Geography

“Data for Decision”, 42 Years Later

In Environmental Science, GIS, Geography, Modeling, Science on January 25, 2009 at 7:57 am

The “classic” (at least if you’re a GIS geek) 1967 short feature “Data for Decision” produced by the National Film Board of Canada describes the development of the Canada Geographic Information System (CGIS). Dr. Roger Tomlinson, then director of CGIS, commissioned the film as a way to communicate information about the project to the government, who was funding CGIS development.

The film has been posted to YouTube, in three parts.

And what ever happened to all of the data that was developed as part of this landmark project? Read Back from the Brink: The Story of the Remarkable Resurrection of the Canada Land Inventory Data.


  1. [...] Eh bien, vous pouvez  revivre les temps héroïques des pionniers des  SIG et de leurs drôles de machines dans le film Data for Decision du National Film Board of Canada. Tourné en 1967, il décrit le développement du Canada Geographic Information System (CGIS), dirigé par  Roger Tomlinson, un des nombreux pionniers des SIG. Directeur du CGIS à l’époque, il a commandité le film pour promouvoir son système et trouver des financements (source : Gis and Science.com). [...]