Charting a course for GIS Education for 2030
General, External sources ·Lecture given by Joseph Kerski
The Future of “Geospatial”
I found Dr. Kerski’s talk inspirational. To me, he is a bit of a celebrity. I had seen him before on different GIS day events hosted by ESRI, especially during the pandemic but to have him speak directly to us as University of Salzburg students felt special. His talk was full of valuable snippets of advice and knowledge, but there were a few points in particular that he made that inspired further reflection for me.
One of the main themes of Dr. Kerski’s talk was that GIS is a tool and not an endpoint. At this point in my studies, I have been focused very much on the technical aspect of GIS, on learning the tools, processes, software, and calculations necessary to conduct reliable and effective spatial analyses. As such, it has been easy to lose sight of the reason for learning all of the technical knowledge and instead start to narrow one’s perspective to begin to see GIS as the culmination point of a career. Dr. Kerski challenged and refocused my narrowing perspective on GIS by framing GIS solely as a tool in our tool belt, but more than it is a tool to use in service of the greater goal of building a more equitable, resilient world. On that note, Dr. Kerski mentioned that because GIS is simply a tool, it can be applied to many different sectors and organizations and thus can provide greater mobility in one’s career. It struck me that the field of GIS is all about mobility, tracking it, analyzing it, representing it, but it also allows the wielder to be more mobile in their own careers. This brings me to my last point of reflection inspired by Dr. Kerski’s talk: my own predictions for the future of GIS.
As a tool, GIS is very interdisciplinary in nature. I think the interdisciplinary nature of GIS is one of its greatest strengths, but due to its chameleon-like nature it can also be hard to explain to those who do not know much about it or do not practice it regularly. My friends and family, as supportive as they are, never quite seem to understand what I am studying no matter how many different ways I try to describe it to them. GIS can be a niche field, like many other fields, but I think it is becoming less so day by day. In just the few years, from the time I started studying GIS to now, I have seen a huge growth in the interest and demand for GIS. More and more people everyday seem to be more aware of GIS or are actually implementing GIS into their work. As data and software becomes more available and accessible (in terms of resource costs as well as comprehensibility), more and more people are able and willing to use GIS in their work. There has been a big push in the geospatial world to make sure more and more people understand the value of GIS and I think these efforts at visibility have been very effective.
My prediction is that maps and spatial analysis will become mainstream in the next years and that GIS will become fundamental to the way in which we analyze and solve global problems. Obviously, I am a little biased, but I think more GIS is a good thing. That being said, as more and more people begin to use GIS there needs to be a greater focus on education and standardization. As GIS becomes more widespread, we need to ensure that this tool is not being misunderstood or misused through thorough education and that it remains effective and accessible through standardization. Standards, rules, practices, guidelines, and the likes all always lag behind technological advancements, so once GIS has proliferated, the next logical and necessary step would be greater regulation (or and least I hope that is what follows).