We will briefly discuss the history of maps, their creation, evolution, the purposes they served, and those they serve today. We will present the history of the recent emergence of geoprocessing in connection with information technology and its evolution. We will discuss the consequences of microprocessing, seen as the ability to perform processing in increasingly smaller spaces, which has enabled the creation of large, easily and quickly accessible databases with integrity, high reliability, and flexibility for real-time updates. The fantastic evolution in telecommunications is the third aspect we must introduce to form the tripod of technology that, in my view, has changed the level of knowledge, both in quantity and quality. The speed at which the knowledge thus generated dissemination has impacted all of society, with direct repercussions on the quality of the space in which we live. On the one hand, the storage of databases in a diffuse manner on the global network makes them easy to access from any connection point. On the other hand, we can locate anyone or be located, if we are connected to the network (GPS, cell phones).

Speaker: Professor Cláudio Caetano Machado, PUC-MG.
Discussant: Professor Fábio Gonçalves Jota, School of Engineering, UFMG.