2009 ínIcmii(ionaI Confcrencc oii New Trcncls in Iiifonnalion íiikJ Service Sciencc Web platform archilccture to siipport the Geographic Iiiformation System of the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro Campus José Almeida, Hugo Fernandes Univeisity onVás-os-Monles imd Alio Douro Vila Keal, í'orlugal (jadrianojiugolj (^ulad.pt VIlorFilipe Centre ibr the Researcli and Teciinology of Agro- Envíronment and Uiological Vila Real, Porlugal vlll¡pc(í^ulad.pl Abstrae/— The sprcad of Ihc inlcrticf llirouglioiil .socicly lias sparkcd a icvohilion In tlic >vay niany arcas oflininvlcdgc are proiuolcd. Cíeographic liironnalion Sysiems ((ílS) are, potcnlially, such an arca. By (iislriliuling geospatial hirormalion and ways lo ninnipulalc il across Ihc Web, a universal broadcasl servicc is acliicvcil, allowing iiscrs (o acccss dala anywhcre. Gcograpliic Infurnialion (Gí) is ii.sually (liC rcíilin of spccIuH/.cd coinpanics, and Ihc clicnrs role is ní'len linillcd to consiimíng sucli infurmalion. This projccf aíms lo conceíve a prololype oí an arcliilccíure Chai allows Ihc visualization of Ihc Geographic Informalion System of Universily of rrás-os-Monlcs and Alto Douro. Tlils prololype wíll aiso be uscd lo fccd olhcr sysiems, aiso bcing dcvclopcd, like navigation sysiems bascd on GPS lo help pcoplc witli disabililies, namely, blind uscrs. Keywords-G/S, GPS, web aplica/ion, motile aplica/ion, accessibiliíy, navigaíhn I. INTRODUCTION Gcograplilc Informalion Sysiems (GIS) are widcly accepled as fwwerful and inlegrated lools Ibr sloríng, manipulaling, visiializing, and analyzing spalial dala. As a new and emerging lechnology in the early I970s, GIS liad a proibund influenee In the capabililics of geographic analysis and, in retrospect, marked a lurning poinl in the reinforccment of gcography as an cxplicilly spalial discipline GIS soílwarc has eiiabled users lo view spalial data in iLs proper formal. As a lesull, Ihe inlerprelation of spalial dala has bcconie casy and increasingly simple lo undcrsland. In recciil years gcographical informalion sysiems (GIS) have begun lo appear on Ihe Worid-Wide Web (WWW or Web) ranging (rom simple dcmonslralions and rcferences lo GIS use, lo more complex oniine GIS and spalial decisión siipport sysiems [2]. GIS availabilily via Web Í.s becoming a realify in niany fields [3].Thus, the previous crilicisms oCGIS belng an elilisl Jo3o Banoso Knowledgc Engineering and Decisión SiippoH Rescurch Cenler Porlo, Portugal Íbairoso(^ulad.pl lechnology may no longer be valíd in Ihe same conte.xl f4|. GIS and llic Web are ever-evolving technologies and hold greal polcnlia! for piiblic use, allowing wider Involvemenl in environmcnlal decisión making. Many organizalions are Inlercstcd in distribuling maps and proccssing lools wilhoul lime and localion rcslriclions to users. Iiuernel lechnology has made ils way lo many governmcnl organizalions as well as numerous household.s, providing access to inlbrmation, in any parí of the wodd. al any lime. Tliis way. Web GIS has become a cheap and casy way of disseminating geospalial dala and proccssing lools. The abilily lo gel informalion Ihrough Ihe Internet has led spalial data providers to explore Internet resources for disseminating spalial informalion. To provide a successful Web GIS, it is necessai7 ^ consider Ihe developmcnl more as a process, ralher Ihan a step. The implemenlation should aiso resiTcct the available lechnology and ihe applicalion requiremenls[5|. In Ihis paper we present a possible archileclure for a web plalfoim lo support the geographic informalion system oflhc Universily of Trás-os-Monles and Alio Douro campus, and leed a mobile navigation system, based in the Global Posilioning System (GPS), Ihal takes evei-yone in considcralion, including peopie wilh disabililies, namely, blind or visually impaired users. Firsl, we will make an ovcrvlew of Ihc technologies used, and why we used Ihem. Then we will expose how we impleinenled both llie web platform and the moblle applicalion and navigation system. Finally we wtll make soma considerations aboul future work and conclusions aboul the work done. II. Technologies BACKGROUND In Ihis chapler we will make an overview of the tecbnologies used lo implemenl Ihe Geographic Informalion System (GIS) oflhc Universily of Trás-os-Monles and Alto Douro. This plalform will support a wide range of services thül will be provided by lwo applications, one lo be rcleased as a Web applicalion and anothcr lo be used in mobile dcvices. 978-0-7695-3687-3/1)9 $25.00 O 2009 lEEE DOl IO.IIO9/NISS.20O9.177 _ trrE í5':com|>uler society