简介：TheInternettechnologyhasalreadychangedtheInformationSocietyinprofoundways,andwillcontinuetodoso.NowadaysmanypeopleforeseethatthereisasimilartrajectoryforthenextgenerationofInternet-GridTechnology.Asanemergingcomputationalandnetworkinginfrastructure,GridComputingisdesignedtoprovidepervasive,uniformandreliableaccesstodata,computationalandhumanresourcesdistributedinadynamic,heterogeneousenvironment.Ontheotherhand,thedevelopmentofGeographicInformationSystem(GIS)hasbeenhighlyinfluencedbytheevolutionofinformationtechnologysuchastheInternet,telecommunications,softwareandvarioustypesofcomputingtechnology.Inparticular,inthedistributedGISdomain,thedevelopmenthasmadesignificantimpactinthepastdecade.However,duetotheclosedandcentralizedlegacyofthearchitectureandthelackofinteroperability,modularity,andflexibility,currentdistributedGISstillcannotfullyaccommodatethedistributed,dynamic,heterogeneousandspeedydevelopmentinnetworkandcomputingenvironments.Hence,thedevelopmentofahighperformancedistributedGISsystemisstillachallengingtask.So,thedevelopmentofGridcomputingtechnologyundoubtedlyprovidesauniqueopportunityfordistributedGIS,andaGridComputingbasedGISparadigmbecomesinevitable.ThispaperproposesanewcomputingplatformbaseddistributedGISframework–theGridGeographicInformationSystem(G2IS).