The President's High Growth Job Training Initiative identifies exapanding industries and works to find ways to create a pool or workers with the technical and advanced skills for the jobs that employers need to fill. Geospatial Technologies were one of 12 sectors identified as a growing technology.
According to the criteria of the initiative, geospatial technologies are projected to add substantial numbers of new jobs to the economy or affect the growth of other industries; or they are an existing or emerging businesses being transformed by technology and innovation requiring new skills sets for workers.
As part of the report, the DOL has provided an industry snapshot of geospatial technologies.
Growth Pattern
The geospatial technology industry is defined as "an information technology field of practice that acquires, manages, interprets, integrates, displays, analyzes, or otherwise uses data focusing on the geographic, temporal, and spatial context." It also includes development and life-cycle management of information technology tools to support the above. (Geospatial workforce Development Center, University of southern Mississippi)
The progressively complex and accelerating pace of change in the geospatial technology industry offers dramatic possibilities for meeting the increasingly sophisticated geospatial information demands of government, private industry, scientists, and the public. (U.S. Geological Survey)
The worldwide market for geospatial technologies has enormous potential, Estimated at $5 billion in 2001, the market is projected to have annual revenues of $30 billion by 2005. (Geospatial Workforce Development Center, University of Southern Mississippi)
The architecture and engineering occupations group, which includes surveyors, cartographers, photo-grammetrists, and surveying technicians, is 1 of the top 10 occupational groups projected to have the fastest growth in employment between 2002 and 2012. Employment in architecture and engineering occupations is expected to grow by 220,000, led by 22% increase in landscape architects. (U.S. bureau of Labor Statistics)
Increasing demand for readily available, consistent, accurate, complete, and current geographic information and the widespread availability and use of advanced technologies offer great job opportunities for people with many different talents and educational backgrounds. (U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Industry Outlook
Careers in geospatial technology disciplines are available in many segments of commercial, public, government, and academic communities. O*NET, the Occupational Information Network, has identified several occupations that may require geospatial competencies, including: cartographers, photogrammetrists, surveyors, civil drafters, electrical drafters, mechanical drafters, and technicians in aerospace engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, environmental engineering, industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, surveying, mapping, soil conservationists, range managers, foresters, geological data technicians, and geological sample test technicians. Other occupations listed by the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing include geographers, physical scientists, computer scientists, geographical information systems (GIS), analysts, database administrators, and remote sensing scientists.
See also our spotlight feature on Geospatial21 The US DOL has awarded a US$1 million grant to Nortel Networks Kidz Online, a non-profit digital education service, and the NASA Center for Distance Learning to conduct a special, two-year educational program that will use interactive multimedia tools and broadband connectivity to train workers of the future for jobs related to geospatial technology.
GISuser Feature Articles
Top iPhone related GIS and Geo Tech news stories from 2009 - At the end of the year its always interesting for us to look at some of the stats and results to identify trends and more important, to see what our readers think is hot! In the "news" category it seems that iPhone related geo tech items were extremely popular.
10 Awesome GIS and Mapping apps for the iPhone - I recall last year at the ESRI UC when an iPhone was on stage showing a prototype app (think ArcPad on iPhone). It was then that I realized the iPhone platform is going to be BIG in mapping and there's a ton of opportunity for developers.
Nokia Booklet 3G, unboxing video and image gallery... Those of you in the USA who pop in to BestBuy occasionally, you may have seen a stand showing off the Nokia Booklet 3G. A sleek, 3G enabled, SIM slot (AT&T) sporting netbook.
Interesting Tweeple - 10 Geo Technology & Geo-Social Women of Twitter - given the growing love for geospatial and location-aware technologies, I’ve decided to hype 10 women that I feel make a significant contribution to the Geo-Twittersphere. If you’d like to add 10 knowledgeable and useful Twitter contacts to your Geo following list I highly suggest the following: (in no particular order)
10 Geo Social Location-Aware Apps Making Waves... With Twitter's opening of their location API to developers there's going to be a ton of third party apps that will enable Twitter users to share location-aware information via their Twitter accounts.
Signs that indicate you may be a GeoGeek (aka. GeoNerd) and some suggested Geo blogs - Chances are good that if you are a Geo Geek then you already know it and likely refer to yourself as one. However, there’s many of you out there that may be on the fence and wondering… “am I a Geo Geek?" Read on for a comprehensive list of signs you might be a GeoGeek followed up by some suggested Geoblog reading.
Real-time GPS Mapping and GIS Solution Aids Efficient Disaster Management - Saturday, February 7, 2009 will forever be known as Black Saturday in the State of Victoria, Australia. In the midst of a 10-year drought, a record breaking heat wave descended upon the state, with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees C (110-120 deg F), breaking all-time record highs in some cities - Victoria Police Use Trimble Juno SC Handhelds to Speed Assessment of Damage Caused by Bush Fires.
10 Ways Your Tech Business Can Take Advantage of Twitter - Many companies and individuals are still asking themselves how can I use Twitter in my business? The following is a small sampling of some of the ways that your technology business can use Twitter to your advantage.
2010 ESRI Federal User Conference February 17-19, 2010, Washington D.C. Walter E. Washington Convention Center - The FedUC is the largest geospatial conference for federal agencies. Connect with other leaders, decision makers, and GIS professionals.
The International LiDAR Mapping Forum 2010 - Tenth Anniversary Event! ILMF 2010 will be held from March 3 - 5, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency in Denver at Colorado Convention Center.
The NAVTEQ 2010 Global LBS Challenge Awards Ceremony will be held during Ignite at O'Reilly Where 2.0. Be among the first to hear as NAVTEQ announces the winners for the North America region. Participants will be competing for a global prize pool of $10 million and growing by showcasing pre-commercial location-enabled apps using NAVTEQ map data & products. March 30, 2010, during Ignite Where, 7:30pm - 9:00pm, at the Marriott San Jose, CA
WHERE2.0 2010 - Now in its sixth year, the Where 2.0 Conference is where the grassroots and leading edge developers building location-aware technology intersect with the businesses and entrepreneurs seeking out location apps, platforms, and hardware to gain a competitive edge. For 15% use Discount Code: whr10lbs
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