Gone are the days of burnt, illegible pirate maps, dog-eared charts and
dusty trunks stuffed with yellowing documents. Geospatial technology has made
all of that obsolete.
Today, the information needed to map the world and chart geographic trends
is stored on computers. The tools used to display and analyze geographic data
are called geographic information systems (GIS).
GIS is a collection of computer hardware, software and geographical data.
When used together, these tools are designed to help us better understand
the world we live in.
The people who research, develop and use geospatial technology go by many
names. A few examples are geospatial technician, geospatial information scientist
and geospatial technologist. In this article, we call them all GIS experts.
"Because it's so cross-disciplinary, there hasn't been a settling on the
titles of jobs or the programs in university that concentrate on geospatial
technology," says GIS expert Joseph Kerski. He has a PhD in geography and
works for a company that develops GIS software.
GIS experts include analysts, programmers, managers, developers and consultants.
And GIS refers to a wide variety of technologies, including global positioning
system (GPS) technology, satellite imagery, aerial photography and surveying.
"Basic GIS and statistical skills are pretty valuable for anyone working
in government or business," says Anne Godlewska. She's president of a geographers'
association.
"They are also valuable to economists, biologists [and] geologists," Godlewska
adds. "GIS-dedicated jobs are certainly there, but the most interesting jobs
are less about doing GIS yourself than about understanding how to do it and
how to interpret what is done."
GIS is everywhere these days. Many people work with GIS all the time,
but you might not know it.
"If you look at all the careers that involve geospatial technologies, I'd
say 90-plus percent don't have GIS in their title," says Kerski. "Sure, there
are GIS analysts out there and GIS technicians, but, by and large, it's going
to be science, government, nonprofits and academia using GIS in their jobs
but not having GIS in their job titles.
"More often, you've got people using that technology, but their title
is totally outside of geospatial anything," Kerski adds. "They could be a
city planner, or law enforcement or public health."
GIS works by digitizing maps and charts, and then cross-referencing these
maps with other data. Since the information is on computers, people can quickly
find hidden relationships, patterns and trends they could never see with hand-drawn
maps and charts.
These systems have a broad range of uses. Besides mapping, GIS can be used
to analyze data that will help plan uses for land, plot urban areas and figure
out how to get resources to remote areas.
"Behind a lot of decision making these days is GIS, because it does offer
the holistic approach to problem solving," says Kerski.
GIS can also be used to preserve the environment -- by mapping pollution,
tracking endangered species, and identifying habitats and wetlands. GIS can
also help decide how to best use natural resources such as water and forests.
These systems can be used by emergency managers who need to know the best
route to get to an emergency. Cities and towns can use them to help maintain
roads and traffic signals. GIS is even used by doctors to map out sources
of infectious diseases and to track their spread.
GIS experts can work for private companies or the government.
"Around 1980 you saw GIS largely being in natural resource organizations
and some city and county planning agencies," says Kerski. "But then you saw
it expanding into businesses. As the '80s [went by], it was expanding more
and more into business, but now it's across the board -- law enforcement,
public health, [etc.]."
A lot of GIS work is done in offices. Many GIS experts are required to
travel. Since GIS is used in so many different locations, the hours vary from
office to office. However, most experts work regular business hours.
Typically, the job isn't physically demanding because it mostly involves
computer work. However, collecting GPS points in the field, such as counting
manholes or telephone poles, can be more demanding.
"Many people in GIS are in the surveying profession, so they're out there
surveying and every day they're in the field maybe collecting data, measuring
stream flow or tagging telephone poles -- tagging coordinates six hours a
day and then uploading the data," says Kerski. "I think, by and large, there
are more opportunities to travel in the GIS field than in a lot of other fields."
Demand for GIS experts is growing.
"I think if you look at the ups and downs of general information technology
over the last 40 years, it's been hot and cold," says Kerski. "Generally,
it's moved forward, but there have been highs and lows.
"GIS has really bucked that whole trend for a couple of reasons," Kerski
explains. "The main reason is that GIS is used more and more in different
fields. So even if a particular field, say telecommunications, waxes and wanes
over time and goes through layoffs, because GIS has expanded into a number
of fields... this has buffered GIS from those economic storms."
The other main reason that GIS has weathered economic downturns is that
GIS helps companies and government become more efficient. Consider a company
that does a lot of deliveries, such as UPS or Sears.
"A lot of their business is based on fleets of vehicles and routing," says
Kerski. "If they can use GIS to more effectively route those deliveries, if
they can save half an hour a day multiplied by thousands and thousands of
vehicles, that's a huge cost savings.
"The bottom line is that GIS makes organizations more efficient, so you
get people using GIS in economically good times," Kerski adds. "And in economically
difficult times they say, 'We need GIS to be economically efficient.'
"Even in economically difficult times you've got people really looking
at cost benefits and saying we need GIS more than ever because it's actually
helping us save money."
Godlewska agrees. She says GIS experts are especially sought by businesses
or agencies concerned with the delivery of goods and services.