The Project

We live in the Global Location Age. “Where am I?” is being replaced by, “Where am I in relation to everything else?”

Penn State Public Broadcasting is developing the Geospatial Revolution Project, an integrated public media and outreach initiative about the world of digital mapping and how it is changing the way we think, behave, and interact.

The project will feature a web-based serial release of eight video episodes—each telling an intriguing geospatial story. Overarching themes woven throughout the episodes will tie them together, and the episodes will culminate in a 60-minute documentary. The project also will include an outreach initiative in collaboration with our educational partners, a chaptered program DVD, and downloadable outreach materials.

The Need to Know

Geospatial information influences nearly everything. Seamless layers of satellites, surveillance, and location-based technologies create a worldwide geographic knowledge base vital to solving myriad social and environmental problems in the interconnected global community. We count on these technologies to:

• fight climate change;
• map populations across continents, countries, and communities;
• track disease;
• strengthen bonds between cultures;
• defend the nation;
• assist first responders in protecting safety;
• enable democracy;
• navigate our personal lives.

The sweeping application of these technologies requires public education to understand both the application of these technologies and the issues of privacy and security that they raise.

The Impact of Public Media

Penn State Public Broadcasting believes that a public media project is the best strategy for creating public awareness of these proliferating technologies.

We have the proven ability to distribute public media programs nationwide and around the world, and to engage the public, government officials, and community leaders in meaningful dialogue about important issues.

Through compelling human stories, we clarify the complex and decode the mysterious; we explain the virtues and explore the potential dangers of these emerging technologies. Viewers will meet inventive people who utilize geospatial technologies to address some of the world’s most intractable problems.

Outreach resources will further extend the project into communities and classrooms for maximum public impact.