Top 10 Features in The New Google Maps - Google has reinforced that Maps are all about exploring and discovering, especially on mobile. The experience will only get better, for the developer and end user. We can all expect to enjoy new features and enhanced navigation experiences from gMaps in the near future. I've had a chance to have an early look (See blog post) and have also provided a quick list of Top 10 new features - enjoy!
GISuser Expert Feature - Low-Tech Field? Think Again - When the public thinks about landscaping, high tech doesn’t immediately come to mind. After all, this is work involving dirt, manual labor and plants. Mechanical engineering is represented in the form of a backhoe loader, for example, but that’s about as “technological” as the industry gets. Right?
Canada Post Suing Over the use of Postal Code - An interesting issue is unfolding in Canada and quite frankly its darned amazing! Imagine this, you have a website and offer some kind of product or service. You also use a map so users can search your product by Postal Code... uhoh, now you get a letter from Canada Post stating that they are suing you!
Location, Location! 10 Map Services Your Business MUST Be Listed in - You have a business... perhaps a bar, a coffee shop, or maybe a consulting firm. Regardless of the business type, if you have a brick and mortar presence then you need to get your business listed in some of the popular online, location-based resources and search tools. Even more important is being found via mobile search.
Avenza Announces Return of Annual Map Awards for 2013 - The competition is open to all mapmakers from around the world who use Avenza products in the creation of their maps which were completed or published during 2012 or 2013. The various category awards recognize achievement in the art and science of cartography and promote the advancements and innovation made in mapping.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Connect With Anglers via Colorado Fishing Atlas - Colorado Parks and Wildlife Connect With Anglers via Colorado Fishing Atlas and Social Media. Some fine civic engagement from the Parks and Wildlife service in Colorado as some new resources designed to connect with Anglers have been released to the public.
AEC Firms Lose an Average 100K a Year - A little financial advice from an industry insider to help in these tough times. June Jewell, a CPA and owner of Acuity Business Solutions consulting, says the architectural, engineering and environmental firms she works for easily lose $100,000 each year through inefficient and ineffective practices
President Obama Issues Executive Order and a new Open Data Policy - Another bold move from the Obama Administration, this time via an executive order and a newly released open data policy. The move aims to arms business and developers with previously hard to find, or even impossible to access data.
Editing OpenStreetMap (OSM) Just Got Easy, Really Easy! I'm sure that many (if not most) of you have often wanted to mess around with OSM and add/edit some features but were a little lazy - I'm guilty! But now we have no excuse thanks to the new OpenStreetMap in-browser map editing tools available from the iD Editor
Creative Cartography Meets Music in The Song Map - Oh yes, I love art. I also love music too, heck, who doesn't right? Well, I know you GeoGeeks and music lovers will really dig this one as we stumble onto yet another amazing cartographic product that quite simply will make you say WOW
Why is Landsat important and the Landsat Missions Timeline - Landsat has the optimal ground resolution and spectral bands to efficiently track land use and to document land change due to climate change, urbanization, drought, wildfire, biomass changes (carbon assessments), and a host of other natural and human-caused changes.
Mobile Market Trends show Apple users most loyal - Results from a recent survey indicate that Mobile Market Trendsreveal Apple users are most loyal, T-Mobile customers most likely to bail - are you still confident that your clients are loyal to your brand?
10 Must Have Gadgets and Technology for the Remote Office - Chances are good that if you happen to work in technology or you're a consultant, that you may be working remotely or from a home-based office at some time soon - or perhaps you already do
This is a section devoted to providing our valued contributors with a corner to do whatever they like with and discuss Geo/Tech topics that are near and dear to them! Be sure to check out ALL of our experts for commentary, editorial, links, and advice! Interested in becoming a contributing expert? Contact us and tell us about yourself
Written by Eric Pimpler, Owner GeoSpatial Training Services, LLC
02 February 2012
I think we can all agree that we live in challenging economic times to say the least! As GIS professionals we are subject to the same budget cutbacks, restrictions, and decreased revenue sources as everyone else.
We’re all being asked to do take on more responsibilities - often with the same or even fewer resources. From time to time we all wonder how we stack up against others in our occupation not only in terms of financial compensation but also how we fit in demographically. In this article I’d like to share the results of a recent GIS salary survey conducted by GeoSpatial Training Services as well as highlight various resources that you can use to answer questions such as:
Am I being compensated fairly for my skill set, level of experience, education, years of experience, certification, and geographic location?
What kind of compensation can I expect to earn by gaining various GIS skills and education?
I’m considering taking a position in another part of the country. How does the cost of living compare?
What can I expect to earn in an entry-level position
What are the various GIS positions and how are they compensated
What is the compensation difference between public and private sector employment
Recently, GeoSpatial Training Services http://geospatialtraining.com conducted an informal GIS salary survey, open to our newsletter subscribers and readers of our GeoChalkboard blog http://geochalkboard.wordpress.com/. We thought this would be a great opportunity to get a sense of GIS salaries, demographic characteristics, and software trends not only in the U.S. and Canada but across the world. Responses from 831 people were returned revealing a number of items of interest.
Perhaps the most interesting demographic characteristic revealed by the study was the high level of academic achievement obtained by GIS professionals. Approximately 42% of respondents indicated that they had obtained a Master’s degree or higher lending further evidence that the Master’s degree is the new Bachelor’s degree. Michelle Mattix of Geomattix, LLC has addressed this issue for GIS professionals in her "Should You Get a Master’s in GIS Now?" and "How to Select a GIS Master’s Program" blog posts.
The survey also revealed that as a group, GIS professionals are an experienced, mid-career group. Some 40% of respondents indicated 10 years of experience or greater. Age characteristics revealed that 64% of respondents are between the ages of 30 and 50 with less than 2% indicating an age above 60. The rest appeared pretty evenly distributed between age groups.
One demographic characteristic that I think we can all agree needs to change is the disparity between male and female practitioners of GIS. Some 70% of respondents were male. Based on my extended waits in the restroom line at the recent ESRI Internal User Conference I have no doubt that this is accurate! Is this any better than it was 10 or 20 years ago? Maybe, but I suspect not based on the fact that, at least in the U.S., girls are no more interested in STEM (science, technology, math and engineering) than they were a couple decades ago. This needs to change.
Job titles are always interesting, if not exactly accurate with regard to the duties being performed. In our survey, 40% of respondents list their job titles as either GIS Analyst or GIS Technician. 16% are GIS Managers/Coordinators/Directors, and 6% GIS Developers/Programmers.
Of course we’re all interested in the financial compensation that we achieve for the work that we do. In our survey, salaries were widely dispersed with 30% between $50,000-$70,000 USD/year. It was somewhat surprising to see almost 12% of respondents below $20,000/year. Hopefully these are entry level positions and not reflective of deflation in salaries due to financial conditions throughout the world.
Several questions from the survey covered the topic of GIS software currently in use. As expected ESRI was far and away the most popular platform with 93% of respondents indicating this as one of their primary platforms. This question allowed more than one platform to be selected. Open Source GIS software came in second at 14.5%, and I would expect that the use of Open Source GIS software will only grow in the coming years.
At GeoSpatial Training Services we have developed an extensive set of training materials for GIS developers and programmers so we were particularly interested in the primary programming languages being used in organizations throughout the world. Results of the survey indicated that the primary programming languages in use include .NET (55%), Python (51%) , JavaScript (28%), Java (21%), and Flex (19%).
You can view the results of the survey in detail here. [PDF]
Through the years we’ve also gathered various resources related to GIS salaries and employment that you may be interested in reviewing.
Eric is the founder and owner of GeoSpatial Training Services, LLC and has over 15 years of experience in the design, development, implementation, management, and training of GIS applications built upon the full suite of world-leading technology from ESRI and Google Earth/Maps technology. Currently Eric focuses on the development of custom applications and training solutions using ArcGIS Server and Google Maps.
Eric has a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from Texas A&M University and a Master's of Applied Geography degree with a concentration in GIS from Texas State University and is a GISP.
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Top 10 Features in The New Google Maps
Canada Post Suing Over the use of Postal Code
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This is a section devoted to providing our valued contributors with a corner to do whatever they like with and discuss Geo/Tech topics that are near and dear to them! Be sure to check out ALL of our experts for commentary, editorial, links, and advice! Interested in becoming a contributing expert? 
