GIS are information systems which have as a basic dimension the reference to a specific area. A key feature of GIS is the combination of cartographic and statistical information. GIS include a series of information for the space and the activities that take place on it. The emphasis is equally distributed on spatial, qualitative and quantitative dimension.

GIS have to manage a large volume of multidimensional information related to the different activities that take place in space. The topographic maps, the city plans, the land use plans, population data, traffic volumes, road networks, water supply and sewage networks, data and photographs of traditional buildings, maps of old archives maps, historical data by region, etc., are the heterogeneous number of elements that these systems have to manage.

From the above it is obvious that the development and management of a GIS is a multidisciplinary process that is governed by its own principles and rules, and which is the subject of the course. Emphasis is placed on spatial analysis and map algebra.