In May 2013 Juan Porta Trinidad defended his doctoral thesis entitled Geographic Information Systems and Optimization Algorithms Applied to Geospatial Problems in Land Administration, which had been directed by Dr. Ramón Doallo Biempica at the Faculty of Informatics of the University of A Coruña (UDC). The object of study of this work shows in a profuse and rigorous way the result of a research. The theme focuses on the analysis of how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been able to open a digital space linked to promoting culture. Thus, an environment is created where scientific and technological knowledge associated with multiple scientific disciplines is generated and enhanced. The geography is a scientific discipline in which this technology has been integrated through Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In this sense, during the second half of the 1980s and early 90s, a leap was made, led by the emergence of GIS and Remote Sensing (TD). In technical terms, there was a paradigm shift, which led to new ways of developing analyses, managing data and extracting a series of interpretations about geographical space. In this way, the results of the thesis offer an argument about how the way of operating was changed in those years. In other words, there has been a shift from traditional analogue information systems to the emergence and, above all, the consolidation of new computer technologies, capable of storing and processing large volumes of information found in digital databases. That was the moment in which the first phase of what would become Big Data began, becoming the technological challenge that, not without difficulty, has been consolidated in the society of the 21st century. The geography is being favored due to its use, since this area of knowledge is identified with the use of large amounts of data, which have multiple functions and spatial characteristics. As has been said, this is a phenomenon that is not unique to geography. In this way, a paradigm shift took place, which meant, on the one hand, an advance associated with multiple scientific disciplines, and, on the other, as a whole, these transformations underline the need for society to adapt to this new virtual environment of work and information visualization. In this sense, in order to make this information publicly available, it is necessary to use certain software, such as applications: ArcGIS, GRASS GIS, QGIS and others. Two of the capabilities of these programs are, on the one hand, to provide processing engines on large and diverse data sources, and, on the other hand, to allow the management of information in raster and vector formats. To this end, in order to evaluate and manage geospatial information, questions related to its analysis, development, modification and georeferencing, among others, are developed. The objective set by Porta Trinidad is to face and try to solve one of the problems of geography. In this sense, the research focuses on demonstrating how new digital technologies have been applied to the present. Specifically, in the sense of verifying how, through this set of techniques, Land Administration and land use planning processes are carried out. At the same time, in the second part of the doctoral thesis, the aim is to minimize this problem, which does not only affect rural areas. Thus, through the planning and development of computer tools, such as Web-GIS, and data search algorithms is carried out. The aim is for both technicians and researchers to use these systems that are compatible with each other. In this way, they are able to develop processes of both planning and demarcation of the territory, reducing economic costs and working time in what until then were arduous analogue processes. In addition, with the result of these two cases, through mechanisms and protocols of action, progress is being made in the resolution of problems of various kinds that affect urban and rural territories. In relation to this issue, the point of interest is focused on resolving how to distinguish the categories of land, both in terms of planning, detailed in the General Municipal Planning Plans (PGOM), and in the planning of the rest of the territory. The research focuses on a topic that, until now, had either not been carried out in a monographic way, or had been dealt with in a basic way as part of other larger studies. Hence, the doctoral thesis developed by Porta Trinidad is necessary when it comes to understanding a GIS environment based on both displaying and managing spatial data and, in this way, having complete information about the objects and variables that need to be consulted. The research, development and use of these technologies in land administration to promote the rural environment are considered strategic factors in spatial planning. Because rural areas can be considered an asset that generates an economic engine that drives the growth and development of a given territory from which the maximum use must be extracted. In the process of research and writing of the doctoral thesis, a varied methodology has been used. In this sense, on the one hand, the analysis was approached from a historiographical perspective, and, on the other, an empirical method has been used to generate the new computer tools and algorithms. Thus, as the author stated in the last section, dedicated to references, there is a significant predominance of the use of foreign sources. Finally, the most important conclusions reached by Porta Trinidad were: on the one hand, the demonstration that digitalization is transforming research in the Social Sciences and Humanities. On the other hand, these transformations underline the need to adapt to this new model of research and scientific production, which facilitates and accelerates the progress of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]