The twenty-first century is witness to a convergence of increased Earth systems awareness, as demonstrated by the popularity of An Inconvenient Truth and spatially enabled technologies (e.g., GIS, RS, GPS, RFID), within the world-wide-web framework, that has led to an unprecedented era where an Earth Operating System (EOS) can be designed and implemented. Buckminster Fuller articulated the design parameters for an EOS half a century ago.

That this is happening at a critical juncture for the planet when we are witnessing the sixth mass extinction of our living resources along with other such ramifications of rapid climate change, should be sufficient to motivate a collective partnership for defining a common direction and application of our inventive technological prowess. Earth Operating System, as a global collaboration, is proffered as requisite for the continued survival of the Earth’s species, as well as sustainable business and human conditions.

An Earth Operation System design is based on the application of new Earth-centric and global systems for the observation, monitoring, and management of the planet and its resources. Technologies have evolved from the GIS, remote sensing, and web-application industries into tangible Digital Earth implementations, as demonstrated by Google, Microsoft, ESRI, NASA, and other 3D geobrowsers. These technologies, in combination with the activism within and between communities, need to be harmonized and focused on sustainable practices to form the genesis of an EOS needed to bridge economic, political, and social domains for our species while attending to the careful stewardship needed for all of Earth’s systems.