Geographic Information Science is commonly referred to as GIScience, to differentiate it from GIS as Geographic Information Systems.

For further reference see:

Goodchild, Michael F. (1992), "Geographical information science", International Journal of Geographical Information Systems 6 (1): 31–45.

Goodchild, Michael F. (2010), "Twenty years of progress: GIScience in 2010", Journal of Spatial Information Science, http://www.josis.org/index.php/josis/article/viewArticle/32.

I am unable to distinguish between your definitions of different abbreviations because common thread among all is geographical space and all you have suggested may be carried out under the umbrella of GIS. However, generally distinction is made between GIS which is application of GISs (Geographical information System Science) whereby theory and methodology of working and improving GIS is taught. Further, GIS developed out of the necessity to store, analyse and visualise environmental information to inform decision making to improve environmental conditions/quality and environment cannot be divorced from its spatial base. Therefore, be it spatial social or physical (Geo) statistics/data or health,epidemic or disease data/information not only part of the environment but also have spatial dimension. Hence, one need not a number of abbreviations when only one is enough.

Thanks for this comment. I suppose without realising I refereed to the SBA (Societal Benefit Area) of the GEOSS when I was mentioning Health, Social Statistics or geoscience forecasts (even though this last one is a bit vague). So I agree in fact with you there is no need to be too specific with the acronyms. Nonetheless GIS may need some polishing as already people use it either for the desktop application or for Geographical Information Science. And actually you're mentioning GISs that I've never heard of before but the GISS and GGISS (GISS=Geospatial Information Science of Systems and GGISS=Geocomputational GISS) have similar aims: updating its concept and its use. I think it is not just a play on "words" as it may have seemed in my previous assertion, I believe the renewal or evolution of "it" would benefit from a re-definition of it.

I suppose the bottom line is the same for GIS as it is for Geography as a science: We're talking about Data over Space and Time.

To split things down further risks creating artificial restrictions on the truly universal and timeless nature of the science and art of dealing with data over space and time.

In fact, the greatest strengths of the science of D/S/T emerge when we mash up a bunch of seemingly unrelated information (cholera cases vs. distance from a public well to give an old example, or orangutans, people, politics, economics, energy, carbon, trees and weather, to give a newer one: http://www.ted.com/talks/willie_smits_restores_a_rainforest.html) that we get the most startling and informative results.

Isn't in the human nature find ever specific definitions?

Geographic Information Science is commonly referred to as GIScience, to differentiate it from GIS as Geographic Information Systems.

For further reference see:

Goodchild, Michael F. (1992), "Geographical information science", International Journal of Geographical Information Systems 6 (1): 31–45.

Goodchild, Michael F. (2010), "Twenty years of progress: GIScience in 2010", Journal of Spatial Information Science, http://www.josis.org/index.php/josis/article/viewArticle/32.

That's only 18 years .. between the two same paper ;) ...to be serious I believe that Michael [in the paper (2010) that you quote and had the pleasure to re-read], in his list of five topics that could influence the GI Science of the next decade really calls for the GI as a science of systems (GISS) and also I guess the vertical integration is talking about "Thus it is much easier to query a GIS for the value of some property z(x) at all places, than to query for the value of all properties z at one place x." suggest good/fast/geocomputational tools to be able to mashup appropriately (i.e., taking into account data quality / accuracy, uncertainty (using different flavours of a interrelated aspects)) various datasets of interest on the fly! and this isa laso a call to GGISS ...

It's really interesting topic, and will alive eternally. I like the word geoinformatics as a superset (umbrella) for all science and technologies involved such as GIS, remote sensing, geodesy, cartography, ...

I agree that a rationale definition is required with international acceptance.

OK, I love acronyms, systems of systems, networks of networks and the like. However, the term GIS has its position and (quite) agreed meaning - almost a brand. You may even talk about different generations of GIS, i.e. manual, desktop, web, cloud(?). The same - to second Stefano here - could be said about GIScience.

Now, due to the long existence, both became umbrella terms and accompany quite some diversity of approaches, technologies etc. With the recent developments - including user contributed content (VGI, if you want to make a link to Goodchild again), LBS, GPS, Galileo, mobile devices, etc. - I am rather wondering if in future Geographic Information Systems will dissolve completely. They might rather become geospatial (and temporal) data management and processing components of mainstream IT. Following this thought, we might need less acronyms... still, the meaning of GIS would remains the same, i.e. the classical notion of 1992 (or even earlier).