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Department of Information Science

giCentre - About us

The City giCentre is one of the world's leading research groups in geographic information science, geovisualisation and location-based services. We are focussed on the use of digital geographic information to achieve new insights into society and the environment, and to enable access to geographic information in ways that are both beneficial and effective. Our work is used in policy development, innovation and learning in partnership with government, industry and research organisations worldwide.

Understanding GI is fundamental to decisions wherever geography is important, for example, in the prediction of natural hazards, planning transportation options or analysing crime patterns. The giCentre takes its expertise in the theory, practice and technology of GI and applies it to real problems. Our partners include organisations such Willis Re-insurance, eCourier and Leicestershire County Council, for each of whom we have developed solutions in these respective areas. Within the giCentre the Location-Based Services Research (LBSR) operates as a special research group focussed on this rapidly developing field in partnership with organisation such as the Ordnance Survey, the Royal National Institute of Blind People and the GeoInformation Group. We also include among our visiting staff the Director of the Office for Public Sector Information Carol Tullo, and the Chair of the UK Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information David Rhind FRS, FBA, who are both leading players in geographic information policy development. Our research is disseminated through high quality publication, participation in a wide range of conferences and masterclasses, and through exploitation by spinoff companies, including Camineo SAS and Placr Ltd.

We welcome partnerships with organisations seeking innovation partners and individuals looking for high quality Masters or Ph.D level training in GI. We are a vibrant community of researchers with international expertise, global connections and excellent resources.



Personnel

Academic Staff

Vesna Brujic-Okretic (Head of Department)
Jason Dykes
David Mountain
Jonathan Raper (Director of giCentre)
David Rhind (Professor Emeritus)
Jo Wood

Research Staff

Fotis Liarokapis (visiting fellow)
Aidan Slingsby (Willis research fellow)

PhD Students

Susanne Bleisch - Cartography and 3D GeoVisualization
Christos Gatzidis - Mixed realities
Lenny Kivuti - GIS and land information in Africa
Naz Khalili-Shavarini - Visualization of Social Networks
David Lloyd - Human Centred Geographical Interfaces for Evidence-Based Policy
Stelios Papakonstantinou - Mobile location based services and agent technologies.
Vlasios Voudouris - Enabling of the collaborative GI research process

Recent PhD Completions

Cristina Arciniegas Lopez - Bibliometric analysis of GI science communities
Stephanie Marsh - User-centred evaluation of geovisualization
Ian Greatbatch - Ethnophysiography of mountain regions


Specific Areas of Expertise

The principal areas of theoretical expertise within the giCentre are

The principal application contexts within the giCentre include

Journals and Conferences

The members of the giCentre are well known both nationally and internationally in the field of GIScience. Individuals from the giCentre are members of editorial boards of many of the major GI Journals, serve on the Programme Committees of international conferences and are invited to give lectures around the world. Members of the giCentre make regular appearances in the media either as advisors (e.g. BBC TV's 'Test the Nation') or in front of the camera in interviews for news and documentary programmes (e.g. Channel 4 News, Financial Times). giCentre members also play active roles in a number of research and development organisations such as the Location and Timing Knowledge Transfer Network, and give advice, for example to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Transport.

Members of the giCentre have served on key the programme committees of National and International GIScience and related conferences


Some Current and recently funded projects

Some organisations and projects to which the giCentre is affiliated