over land rights and resource management in ecologically sensitive areas. Interests of local residents in these regions often conflict with those of migrant workers, state conservation units, and domestic and foreign mining or logging enterprises. GIS hardware and software are used to identify spatial trends in interpreting these conflicts. Economic development Economic development through traditional knowledge GIS is requisite to local ownership over the systems and full access to relevant data and training. This situation is rare outside of industrialized nations, so little progress has been made in this field of research. Current issues and effectiveness There is a disparate nature to implementations of traditional knowledge GIS across geographies. Though developing nations utilize some forms of participatory GIS, communities there are less likely to gain access to expensive databases and cartographic methods than those in developed nations. The overall effectiveness of traditional knowledge GIS has not been determined conclusively. Advocates for traditional mapping point to successes in acquiring land titles, managing local databases, and creating new skill sets for local communities worldwide. Detractors cite cost, the need for specialized training, and cultural differences as reasons GIS may be inappropriate for these applications. Traditional knowledge GIS analyze the nature of political and social struggles that lead to competing resource claims. They are powerful tools for mediation and negotiation among coexisting social groups. No cost or open source traditional knowledge software The Nunaliit Atlas Framework was developed by and is maintained by the Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre at Carleton University. The focus of this software is to create community Atlas projects. Commercial software The CEDAR tool has a number of modules focused on contact relationship management, consultation for development projects, heritage projects and GIS. This software is provided either as a hosted service or as a computer located in client offices. The LOUIS toolkit is a suite of tools for recording, managing and using traditional land use and traditional knowledge information. This software is provided as a hosted service with complementary desktop and mobile applications. Complementary to these hosted services is a mobile data collection application. See also Participatory 3D modelling (P3DM) Participatory GIS References Applications of geographic information systems Geographical technology Geographic information systems GIS