Charles S. ColganMuskie School of Public Service

Maine Center for Business & Economic Research

University of Southern Maine

Educational Needs for the GIS Workforce in Maine

Developing a Strategy

Type of Organization

Field of Work

Type of GIS Work Done

Highest Level of Education

County of Employment

Software Used

57% of those responding had gone to training within past 2 years

Likelihood of seeking training in next 2 years

Where and how do people want training?

Current v. Desired Fields of GIS Knowledge for GIS Specialists

Desired areas of training for Professionals without GIS (n=13)

Most important thing learned when starting out in GIS?

Most important thing to learn for future?

Barriers to Training

Conclusions Who:

The current workforce is older and more predominantly male

In the sample: Professionals with GIS > GIS Specialists

Government Primary employer Sample bias

Education Bachelors and Masters High rate of continuous

education Employer paying a key

Where: On own and Colleges for Initial

Training In-person preferred, online

possible What:

Specialists Remote Sensing Geocoding/Linear Referencing Theory Statistics

What: Professionals (small N)

Remote Sensing Software

Barriers Time Money

Key Themes for the Future Data Management Web/Internet Expand Uses Beyond Natural

Resources and Land Use Flexibility Communication

GIS/GST Education: The Ingredients

MARKETUndergrad/

GradSpecializati

onSupport

Specialists in the Workforce

Other Professionals in the Workforce

CONTENTTheoryTechnologySoftwareApplicationsData

CollectionManagementUse

Organization

MODALITYClassroomOnlineMixedWorkplace

Finding the right mixFor each major market:

What is in place now?Known gaps?What is the priority among the content areas?

How can content and modality best be matched?

What are the tradeoffs?Vision for 2015?Priority for 2010?