During the past decade GIS (Geospatial Information Systems) has grown from a term representing simple navigational devices and GPS handsets to something much more complex and useful. In the past ten years the GIS market has steadily grown in numbers of applications, use cases, industry adoption and users. Newly published forecasts for the GIS market predict that the GIS industry will grow at an estimated 8% CAGR through 2016.
It is my analysis that GIS applications in both public and private sectors are growing faster than 8%. By researching job announcements on city employment pages, it is obvious there is an increasing demand for GIS analysts, specialists, and technicians.
This growth is due to advancements in GIS technology and the realization that GIS applications are important tools for just about every municipal government, engineering firms, industry and organizations with remote and mobile job sites, projects, assets and workforces today. Digital mapping and remote sensing (the use of satellite imagery outfitted with sensors) is delivering increased safety and savings in the form of time, money and resources.
GIS in the news…
The U.S. government increases the U.S. Geological Survey budget by $41 million to $1.1 billion total. (http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/32343/2/)
Peoria, Illinois is using GIS and LIDAR imagery to collect information on city streets in order to understand street conditions and plan for infrastructure improvements. (http://peoriapublicradio.org/post/peoria-survey-streets)
GIS planning has resulted in a 30% decrease in traffic related deaths in Abu Duabi after GIS planning improved traffic lights and street management. (http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/abu-dhabi-road-accident-deaths-drop-30-in-five-years-1.1310328)
***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
