The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) will work with the Ministry of Education (MOE), industry and training institutions to boost the supply of geospatial professionals in Singapore.
Law Minister K Shanmugam said for a start, basic Geographic Information System (GIS) courses have been arranged for public sector officers.
The law minister (not sure why that position is involved) expects growth in geo in Singapore to match that worldwide, expected to be 8% this year.
The permanent secretary [of Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, John Harunari] stresses the overall aim of the GIS training was to assist the ministry staff and partners to be better facilitated with the skills and knowledge in GIS.
"And to make sure we have effective development interventions with a strong result focused base committed to our people needs," Mr Harunari said.
The GIS training is part of the capacity building project though the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI) ACP, EU-S&T Actions (Solomon Islands) which PNG, Solomon islands and Vanuatu are party to.
I do hope there's a short term goal to use GIS in the short term for a project.
Jim Miller, a lecturer in SUNY Cortland’s History Department, needs help with a project he started with a graduate assistant in 2009. The “Social Studies and History Alumni at Work” project visually displays the locations of the department’s graduates on New York State, United States and world maps.
The process involves contacting alum to determine where they landed after graduation, then putting stickers on three different National Geographic Maps.
Alison Cleary, a former graduate assistant who obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the College, took over the map project for the 2010-11 academic year after Bertrand [who started it] graduated. Cleary said the giant map display serves as a reminder of the places she can travel with a SUNY Cortland degree.
“You spend four years here,” she said. “Seeing the maps every day reminds you of all of the opportunities that await you and all of the things that you can do.”
Jobs are on everyone’s mind. Which regions are employing the most geospatial professionals? How much money are companies paying these professionals? These are key issues, especially for those graduating from school or those considering a career change in the direction of geospatial technology. Editor in Chief Joe Francica provides insights in this episode of DMTV.
The University of Redlands received a three-year, $250,000 grant from the Los Angeles-based W.M. Keck Foundation last month for a project called “Learning Spatially: Infusing Spatial Thinking into Undergraduate Education.” The project “looks at how geography and mapping and taking a spatial lens on things helps us understand religion differently, understand mathematics differently,” said Diana Sinton, director of spatial curriculum and research (and an organizer of the GeoDesign Summit - look for a Hallway Conversation with her, soon.) Geospatial has been used in philosophy, religion and history classes at the University.
Washington University in St. Louis announced that its The Gephardt Institute for Public Service gave out its Community-Based Teaching and Learning Faculty Grants. The grants are intended to provide faculty members with financial support for curriculum development and implementation of community-based learning. Among them:
J. Aaron Hipp, Ph.D., assistant professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work. The grant will enable students to provide local community agencies with mapping services through the course “Foundations of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the Applied Social Sciences.”
Two paid college internships in conservation for this summer are available at the Mohonk Preserve in New York State. Each internship runs for 10 weeks (June to mid-August) and provides a stipend of $3,200. Housing is available. The application deadline is March 15.
Among the goodies found in Sébastien Caquard of Concordia’s research about cinema:
He’s found that Quebec represents 43% of the locations portrayed. Ontario (19%), Nunavut (6%), and BC and Alberta combined (3%) round out the rest of the nation, while Asia and Africa represent 12% and 8% respectively.
He’ll present more at the AAG meeting in Washington DC.
If anyone can make a map today, what is it that distinguishes the amateur from the professional when it comes to geospatial? Is it training? Perspective? Tools? Our editors weigh in.
