EOS Admin
Usually, industry-related reports show the market. GIS Community Survey is the first people-centered research in GIS. We are very grateful to all participants from different countries who contributed to GIS Community Research by Aspectum!
During these months we have reached out to more than 5000 specialists from EMEA, North America, and Asia Pacific working with data to help businesses make informed decisions.
Their contribution will help us to dive into:
- GIS specialist at work
- Current challenges
- Now and future of the software
- Needs and disruption factors
Section I. The People
From the people’s angle, GIS industry is perfectly diverse. Geospatial data finds its place wherever from large companies to micro-entities and needs all kinds of specialists from management to data quality coordination. GIS pros are very devoted; spending over 40 hours is no an exception.
Still, there are points to worry about. More than 10% of GIS Managers and Analysts do not have any feedback on their work and about 20% are thinking about changing their jobs or even their professional field.
Section II. The Time
No one expected 2020 to be the year it is. It made us devote an entire section to the consequences of the pandemic and current challenges that were certainly modified by that. Going online, both in terms of a workplace and easy reach to maps, is in the TOP10 list collected by our contributors.
What do we have to learn? How do we have to go now? Programming, community support, a single GIS platform to share and expand knowledge are top necessities 2020.
Section III. The Tools
The market is like a Shroedinger’s cat: it is highly dependent on the monopoly of one provider but it is also torn apart by multiple applications with their own formats and tools, which are rarely interoperable. Despite having different expertise, titles and specifics, GIS pros are pretty much united by the things that annoy them and vision of the great GIS software.
Section IV. The Future
Together with our contributors, we tried to sketch a picture of GIS future, both in terms of software and professional community. The tools are seen as easy to use and intuitive. An online version is a must. The industry has to make a huge step towards reliable cross-product integration.
Conclusion
GIS Community Survey report was initiated to highlight current pains, aspirations and challenges articulated by real people from the data world. We are pleased to know that pandemic hasn’t heavily shaken the balance and demand for GIS is steady in companies of all sizes. We hope that the sub-section about work attitude will help to raise motivation and the next year “No feedback” group will be much less.
The results point out six directions that have to be noted by industry players:
- Easier and friendlier software interfaces
- Deeper community support and raising awareness
- Better tech performance without crashes and bugs
- Cooperation and cross-industry integration
- Reliable work with big data
- Affordability in terms of pricing and licensing