Assessing public participation for the United Arab Emirates E-government

Geographic and geospatial information processing represent vital human functions for locating phenomena and navigating in the world around us. Spatial representations as mental and physical maps tie perception to cognitive processes. As a system, digital information and communication technologies (ICT) connect satellites to global positioning systems (GPS) to allow accurate, real-time simulations and representations of space-time locations. Now embedded in a globally linked network of digital devices, these systems offer interactive space-time communication of qualitative (visual) and quantitative (locational coordinates) information. Our global information societies, digital economies, social media, governance, commerce, and industry exist because of these processes and are dependent on them. With potential for active user participation in GIS embedded in billions of digital devices, the primary questions of public participation GIS (PPGIS) investigate the means by which government, commerce, and civil society decentralize control and collectively agree on degrees of access, verification, encoding, storage, privacy, and proprietary uses of geospatial information. This research investigates such questions in relation to global cultural, social, and political differences among providers and users-government services, commercial, legal, and social-technical management. Our focus is on the United Arab Emirates, its unique geopolitical and economic position among global networks, and its internal development, demographic, and security issues.