Geomatics Sector • Human Resources Study

Geomatics Sector • Human Resources Study Prepared by: Canadian Council of Land Surveyors Canadian Institute of Geomatics Geomatics Industry Association of Canada Acknowledgements The completion of this report would not have been possible without the cooperation of the many organizations and individuals who contributed their time to completing survey forms, participating in interviews, and attending meetings to discuss issues within the Canadian geomatics sector. The Steering Committee for the study expresses its appreciation to these individuals and organizations for their input and support. Special recognition must be given to the Canadian Council of Land Surveyors, the Canadian Institute of Geomatics, and the Geomatics Industry Association of Canada, who initiated this important study and guided its completion. The leadership that they have provided, in recognizing that the geomatics sector faces critical human resources challenges, and in initiating action to address these challenges, is appreciated. Our thanks are also extended to Human Resources Development Canada for its support of this study. The financial contribution and advice provided by the Department were crucial throughout the duration of the project. Finally, the study has benefited from the comprehensive research and analysis conducted by Hickling Arthurs Low Corporation, with the support of professional consultants and advisors drawn from the different geomatics specialties and Canada's geographic regions. This team provided a comprehensive information base for the development of strategies and plans to deal with sectoral human resource issues. Executive Summary Study Objectives and responded and we interviewed over 100 active as producers and users of geospatial Approach information in industry, government, universities and colleges. Workshops were In order that Canada remain a key player in held in five cities across the country the sector, the Canadian Council of Land attended by a cross section of geomatics Surveyors (CCLS), the Canadian Institute of professionals from each region. We believe, Geomatics (CIG), and the Geomatics Industry consequently, that the results are Association of Canada (GIAC), in cooperation representative of the views of the geomatics with Human Resources Development Canada, community in Canada. Together with an initiated this study to address the human analysis of the technology, market and resources issues. Hickling Arthurs Low business changes influencing the sector, the (HAL) Corporation was commissioned to report constitutes a sound basis for effective undertake the study, which is under the overall planning by the Steering Committee on direction of a Steering Committee composed human resources in geomatics. of key stakeholders in the geomatics sector. The prime objective of the study is to provide Drivers of Change in a cohesive national plan for the development Geomatics of a Canadian geomatics workforce which can make an optimal contribution to the sector's Markets and Technology competitiveness. The study has analyzed the sector in its global setting and determined the The study found that, during the last decade, implications of current and future market and the entire nature and structure of the technology changes for the human resources industry, profession, and constituent in the sector. Five geomatics-related research disciplines have changed to such an extent areas; markets, industry structure, that geomatics is practically un-definable in technologies, education and training, and terms of the practitioner of ten or even five human resources have been addressed. For years ago. The change is so marked that a each of these areas, profiles have been sense of identity within the geomatics sector developed that characterize the current and is lacking. What was once traditional and forecasted Canadian situation. Based on the seen as a continuing industry is now under profiles, a number of conclusions have been pressure from a combination of competition developed on the human resource issues and technological change. How the sector facing the geomatics sector. responds to these pressures will define the pattern of its future growth. Large numbers of people involved in geomatics in Canada were consulted in the The most dramatic technology development course of the study. Our survey went out to of the late 1990's has been the Internet about 4,000 individuals of whom about 900 which is radically changing the means of GEOMATICS SECTOR • HUMAN RESOURCES STUDY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ii delivery of geomatics products and services. in GIS technology, services, and In the future, we can also expect an ever applications. Positioning is almost increasing use of web technology by the invisible, although it forms the backbone geomatics community, not only for the of these services. collection, manipulation, management and Non-traditional geomatics applications delivery of geospatial data and products, but are emerging in which both positioning for education and training, advertising, and GIS are imbedded and transparent. business development, sales, and commercial GIS permits making geo-information transactions. Penetration of geospatial data is visible and smart services for decision now possible into the home and small making (traditional and non-traditional) business, greatly aided by major software providing easy interpretation / effective vendors like Microsoft who offer geospatial visualization. Self-help, and interactive analysis tools bundled with their office mapping via the Web, are targeting the packages. consumer and small business markets. In addition to the Internet, a number of other Many see the technologies moving technologies have become very important to farther and farther out to less industry in their potential to generate growth. sophisticated users. This would lead to In our survey, these included GIS, user more opportunities for geomatics as applications and solutions, data visualization, geomatics is viewed increasingly as a navigation and positioning, and management tool, leading to more communications and distribution. applications. Like any other industry, Technological change was seen by our this stage in the evolution of geomatics respondents as enlarging their market reach will go through a ramp-up period with but at the same time increasing competition proprietary solutions, and then from firms in other sectors such as consolidation plus open standards and information and communications technologies finally true use. and aerospace. Some of the expected impacts on markets and business activity are: Structure of the Geomatics More and better data access through the Industry web to allow data mining. This will result in “a total digital environment”, removing Geomatics is a generic term covering a wide the need for hard copy and the associated collection of disciplines. While some firms expense. GPS and GIS will improve and in the sector are involved in a number of be more accessible with a range of new these disciplines, many are narrowly focused tools. New high resolution satellite on a single niche. This, we have found from imagery was cited by a number of users as our interviews, results in somewhat of an something that would have a significant identity crisis within the geomatics industry impact on their operations. in that many of its parts do not consider themselves part of a larger whole. For A major driver is the availability of example, only about 8% of ‘geomatics’ precise, low cost, real time positioning firms in the Industry Canada Canadian (i.e. GNSS). In fact, some are now Company Capabilities database mention the referring to “l-commerce” (location word geomatics in their descriptions. commerce) as a major subset of e- commerce. Positioning is now imbedded GEOMATICS SECTOR • HUMAN RESOURCES STUDY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY iii This sense of identity is further complicated foreign firms, or failure of Canadian firms as by the fact that many geomatics professionals a result of competition from foreign firms. are employed by geomatics users, and not by Obviously the latter outcome is the least the geomatics industry. Also, many of the preferable, but unfortunately may be the ‘new’ geomatics firms consider themselves to most probable. be part of the information technology industry, rather than geomatics. An additional hurdle in Importance of Government: Geomatics is defining and measuring the progress of the a field that has emerged from the industry is that geomatics is not an industry traditionally public sector mandate to map that is recognized in the traditional lexicon of our world, and it continues to be impacted statistical data collection agencies such as by government actions. Depending on the Statistics Canada. A number of issues area, between 30% and 60% of industry associated with the structure of the industry markets are with the public sector. This is have been identified. presumably down from a decade ago as a result of government cutbacks, but is still a Firm Size: The most significant characteristic significant proportion. of the Canadian geomatics industry is the small size of the firms; 75% are smaller than Of the major issues cited by the geomatics 10 people, and 98% are smaller than 100 industry, many were related to government – people. This has a number of important for example, public sector geospatial data implications, for example: pricing and access, and government policies. Also government is the second most Small firms are likely to be under important partner for the geomatics

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