Sixth International Conference on Spatial Data Acquisition in GIS

Marilee Marceau

Geography 26

Fall 2001

To have GIS certification or not to have GIS certification?

There is an ongoing debate in the GIS arena as to whether or not GIS professionals should be certified, and for establishing GIS professional standards and GIS as a profession. There seems to be quite a bit of informational resources lately, particularly online. There are equally valid reasons to have certification of GIS professionals, as well as not to have certification. However, it’s somewhat moot at this point, since one organization is moving ahead with it’s proposed certification program.

To have GIS certification or not to have GIS certification? That is the question. Some say there should be a certification process for the Geographic Information System (GIS) professional, while others say things should stay as they are, without certification. The huge boom in GIS during the last ten years has resulted in a quality control problem. The accuracy of some GIS data are questionable and the quality poor. Hence, there is an ongoing debate in the GIS arena as to whether or not GIS professionals should be certified, and for establishing GIS professional standards and GIS as a profession. There seems to be quite a bit of informational resources lately, particularly online. The most recent ESRI Users Conference produced at least two papers devoted to GIS certification. Those papers and the question of GIS certification will be examined.

Background

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been around for over 30 years, however, it’s only been in the last ten years or so that there’s been serious ongoing discussions as to whether or not GIS is a profession, and whether the personnel working in the GIS field need to be certified.

GIS began when several geographers created a system to store and manipulate spatial data in a computer. GIS uses mapping software to link information about location to details about landmark attributes. Among other things, GIS consists of a layer of horizontal and vertical coordinates to keep all the layers spatially correct. Spatial accuracy concerns the relation of the fit of map data to real world coordinates.

Advancements in layering technology have lead to rapid growth of GIS applications. GIS is being used by a diverse group of businesses and government, including: land use mapping, commercial trucking industry, natural resource management, real estate, utilities, ecological research, flood control, business applications, socio﷓economic demographics, and many more.

William Huxhold, the current committee chair for GIS certification with URISA maintains that “between more than 12,000 and a half million people will be needed in the not-to-distant future to design, implement, manage, and use geographic information systems in the United States.” (Huxhold, 1998)

Research was conducted by Trisha Wildey Brush, the GIS Coordinator of Miami County, Kansas, to determine: is GIS a profession; whether a certification process needed to be developed to assure a higher competency level in the GIS profession; whether the marketability of people in the GIS field can be improved with certification; and finally, would certification insure that quality work be done by GIS professionals. The research project consisted of literature review and statistical analysis of a research survey sent to people in the GIS field.

Brush states that while the use of GIS has expanded into virtually every global industry and governmental agency, the status of GIS has not kept pace with the expansion to "a recognized level of professionalism." (Brush, 2001) She maintains that the lack of accreditation for GIS educational programs and professional standards for GIS professionals is the reason for inequity.

One of the first stages to recognizing proficiency in GIS is validation of GIS as a profession. D.L. Pugh claims that there are six criteria to determining whether a specific field is a profession. They are:

1) A mindset of self-awareness; goals

2) A body of knowledge and accepted theory

3) The development of high standards

4) A formal organization of members which promotes its interests

5) A framework within which workers’ excellence can be recognized

6) A code of ethics

While the GIS industry meets four of the six criteria, it does not fulfill the criteria for the development of high standards or a code of ethics. And, as Brush states, the GIS industry doesn’t have that far to go to meet all six criteria.

Recognizing proficiency in GIS technology through certification is the second stage. Certification acts as a confirmation of an individuals’ competency to carry out a specific job or professional occupation through an examination or peer review. (Finchum, 2001) Certification of some occupations has existed for a long time, such as, lawyers, accountants, medicine, surveying, etc. In fact, it is largely land surveyors who are actively pushing for certification in GIS. They have been one of the motivating forces behind state legislatures to pass the Brooks Law, “which would require that anyone who uses a GIS in a way that would affect base maps (and registration points specifically) to be licensed as a surveyor.” (Obermeyer, “Response” 10) The California legislature has “decreed that surveyors must collaborate in land projects which involve GIS.” (Somers, 2000)

Al Butler of the GIS Department in Hamilton County, Chattanooga, Tennessee doesn’t think there should be licensing of GIS professionals. He says it would be impossible to create one test to cover all the possible areas that use GIS, and that “not everyone needs to know them all in order to use GIS effectively in their area of interest.” (Butler, 2000) However, he does feel that GIS professionals should be compelled to master the basic discipline of GIS like map projections, the questions of scale accuracy and other specialized details.

Some GIS professionals believe that accreditation will offer the context for identifying the least amount of requirements necessary to enter the GIS workforce. A process of certification fixes a benchmark of the talent needed for specified skills, and there is no guarantee of quality work without the mandated benchmark. They also feel that certification would guarantee quality of work, provide a way to evaluate capability and increase marketability of GIS workers. A GIS certification program may help those people who wish to show skill and knowledge in GIS but who lack an academic degree in a related field. Certification could help business and government identify people who are qualified for GIS﷓related positions. Small businesses could find it easier to evaluate the competency of job applicants.

Others say the issue isn’t the need for certification because they claim it already exists in many forms in the GIS community. Keith Clarke of the University of California, Santa Barbara says that certification already exists through academia, vendors and other certification programs in GIS, but that there is no control over certification and no key group or association organizing the field of GIS. Clarke believes that GIS is like the Internet in that it’s used by almost everyone and owned by no one. He also believes that certification would impede the profession and maybe even take the United States out of its GIS domination in the world community.

Committees have been created by several groups to explore the possibilities of GIS certification. Some of these groups are the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), and the University Consortium on Geographic Information Science (UCGIS). There still is no widely accepted certification program for GIS professionals as yet. That is due, in part, to the fact that GIS is such a broad industry, therefore leading to difficulty in identifying the necessary, common, qualifications of GIS professionals. Some worry that groups will create a program of certification just as a means of increasing income. (Finchum, 2001)

The only certification available today that relates to GIS is offered by the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS). The program is voluntary, and its main goal is to maintain “high standards of ethical conduct and professional practice.” (Finchum 2001) An ASPRS certification is for life unless the holder violates the Code of Ethics. Certificate holders must recertify every 5 years to make sure they are current in their field. If they don’t recertify, they are given inactive or retired status.

Since the GIS field is so broad, it may be impossible to create one certification program to fit all professional areas. Standard knowledge and skill sets common to all GIS professionals should be identified, as well as creation of an assessment tool for measuring knowledge or skill, and an umbrella organization should be chosen to administer certification. Certification at a single level or multiple levels of knowledge or skill should be examined. According to Finchum, a possible model for GIS certification should include “two categories of knowledge and competencies associated with GIS: 1) core knowledge needed by all GIS professionals, and 2) specialized knowledge and experiences needed by individuals working in more narrowly defined GIS application areas.” (Finchum 2001)

Finchum believes an umbrella organization should administer the certification for its member associations. He gives as an example the comprehensive certification program for computing groups administered by the Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals (ICCP). The ICCP is an umbrella for many member and affiliate groups in the computing and information sciences industry. Each member and affiliate group has input into the core requirements and oversight on specialized exams related to its members.

Brush devised a study in which a survey with nine questions related to the GIS profession was sent to approximately 200 GIS professionals and others working in the GIS field. She included variables in the survey to test and statistically analyze four null hypotheses associated with the perceptions people in the GIS field have about GIS certification and GIS as a profession. The questions related to whether the respondent was currently working in the GIS field, how many years working in the GIS profession, job title, does respondent consider GIS as a profession, should GIS certification be created to insure well qualified GIS professionals, would a certification program insure increased marketability of GIS professionals, would certification program insure better quality work by GIS professionals, what characteristics best describe a GIS professional, and finally, the year the respondent would like to see a certification program initiated.

Brush received 96 responses out of the 200 surveys sent. Statistical analysis lead her to the conclusion that: people in the GIS field do consider GIS a profession, GIS certification should be created to assure a better level of skills in the GIS profession, GIS professionals see certification as improving their marketability, and certification will insure the quality of work. Of the 96 responses, over 75% respondents felt GIS certification should be created, with most choosing 2004 as the year for GIS certification to begin.

Brush concludes with GIS certification by itself is not enough to guarantee proficiency in GIS, but that, in addition, education, training and experience would help to insure outstanding work by a GIS professional.

In an open letter dated November/December 2001, William Huxhold tells URISA members and members of allied groups and the geospatial technology industry “that the URISA board had unanimously approved the URISA Certification Committee’s proposed schedule for public discussion, testing, evaluating, and implementation of a proposed certification program for GIS professionals.” (Huxhold, 2001) According to the schedule’s timetable, there will be public discussion for three months, a final draft for approval by the URISA board by May 2002, a pilot program to begin by August 2002 and end in August 2003, with board approval for final implementation at the URISA conference in October 2003. So, GIS certification may begin by 2004.

Information was gathered mainly from the Internet. Specifically, the ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) library site that lists some of the papers presented at this year’s International User Conference in July 2001. Also from papers related to GIS certification on the URISA web site, as well as articles related to GIS certification from the on-line versions of GeoSpatial Solutions Magazine.

It was fairly easy finding lots of information on-line, because many organizations are interested in certification of GIS professionals..

There are valid reasons to have certification of GIS professionals, as well as valid reasons not to have certification, as outlined above. Finchum's proposal to have an umbrella organization adminster the certification program for GIS professionals seems the most logical and reasonable. However, it all appears to be somewhat moot at this point, since URISA is moving ahead with it’s proposed certification program.

References

Butler, A. “Where is the Line Between Surveying and Mapping?” Proceedings of the 2000 URISA Conference, 19-23 August 2000. Orlando, FL: URISA, 2000: 437﷓441

Obermeyer, N.J. “Response from Nancy Obermeyer, Certification Committee Chair”

Huxhold, W. “The State of Certification.” URISA Newsletter, November/December 2001

Pugh, D.L. “Professionalism in Public Administration: Problems, Perspectives, and the Role of the ASPA.” Public Administration Review January/February 1989: 1-8

Somer, R. “Defining the GIS Profession and Debating Certification and Regulation.” GeoSpatial Solutions Magazine May 2000 22+

Wildey Brush, T. “An Analysis of the Necessity for a GIS Certification.” ESRI International User Conference, July 2001