Debate in Geospatial Education: How to train for the next generation

At GITA in Tampa this week, I moderated a session on "Education for the Geospatial Infrastructure Industry." Panel members included Phil Davis from the National Geospatial Training Center at Del Mar College; Kerry Wright, GIS Supervisor at the City of Tampa; Dan Shannon, Engineering Manager for TELUS Communications; Dr. Barnali Dixon, Asst. Profession, Univ. of South Florida; and David James, Deputy Director, Pinellas County, Florida.

Here’s the raging debate: Do we educate subject matter experts (SME) in geology, forestry, urban planning, etc. with BA’s in those disciplines and teach them GIS, OR, do we train specifically in "geospatial thinking" and GIS software to get them ready for the job market?

Kerry Wright of the City of Tampa said that she has so much demand for GIS project work that she needs well-rounded IT specialists who "ideally" know a little programming, maybe Oracle DBA’s, or have some GIS training. SMEs are not that much in demand. She can tell them how to work with urban planners and give that department the geospatial support they need.

Dan Shannon echoed these sentiments and very much agreed that DBA’s who can turn around project work quickly would be most in need.

Phil Davis at Del Mar College represents a two-year program that is turning out GIS experts who are trained and ready for the workforce.

There were very few in the audience who, at this time, could speak for the SMEs. Most professionals who have spent 20+ years in the geospatial profession came from some discipline-specific industry. But we have lost a generation of trained geospatial professionals and this will be a continuing problem. Since 2006, I’ve covered this issue as it has come up many times before especially with respect to the demand being placed on intelligence agencies like the NGA. The demand for more geospatial professionals came up at the 2006 GEOINT conference, (1, 2) in an interview with NGA Director Admiral Murrett, and the importance of geospatial technology has been city by the Department of Labor in 2004. This problem is not going away any time soon.