CaGIS+UCGIS Symposium

A recent National Academy panel affirmed the need to evaluate the balance between supply and demand of geospatial professionals in the United States. As the geospatial industry has grown, it seems the number of geospatial professionals available to fill key jobs has not kept pace. Employers in the government and private sectors are having difficulty recruiting people with adequate skills. Meanwhile, the pace of change of technology in the geospatial-related disciplines has made education and training a challenge. During this session, panel members will describe current workforce trends; gaps between ideal and required characteristics, skills and education vs the realities of available job candidates; and suggestions/requests to the academic community to close those gaps so that the geospatial workforce supply can support the demand.