Where are all the GIS Jobs Going?

There have been several layoffs over the last few months due to declining oil and gas prices and trends toward more cost effective management practices. This includes many mergers in the Oil and Gas sector by operators and vendors alike.

This has left many GIS professionals looking for jobs. For those looking in the current market right now, it is imperative to consider market trends and where the field is going. As companies merge, layoffs are typical. This occurs mostly where there is department overlap and overhead cost consideration. GIS falls directly into this category.

This trend can be seen in the following mergers of Oil, Gas and Energy companies:

• Over the last two years Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI) has worked on the merger of all Kinder Morgan companies under KMI into one of the largest conglomerates in North America and the $3 Billion Hiland Acquisition.
• The merger of Palmetto Engineering of Dallas, Texas and CT&T, of North Little Rock, Arkansas last year.
• Energy Transfer Company just completed its merger with Regency Energy Partners and has been trying to buy Williams with rumors for merger deals with Oneok and Targa resources.
• Williams is already planning to merge Williams Cos. with Williams Partners, LP and is also increasing its equity interest in Utica East Ohio Midstream LLC.
• The recent acquisition of Eagle Mapping Information Systems, Inc. by G2 Partners last December.

This is just the start of these large mergers as more companies try to stave off debt and compete in the international markets. Despite this growing trend The Bureau of Land Management expects a projected 14% job growth, from 54,000 jobs in 2012 to 61,300 jobs by 2022. Despite there being fewer companies to offer jobs. This is due to easier access of geospatial data by the regular consumer through products such as Google Earth and ArcGIS Online. The data used to fuel these applications from behind the scenes will still need creators, administrators and analysts.

As the Geospatial community career trend moves to online web mapping, cloud hosting and 3D visualization more people will have the ability to use geospatial data. OGSpace forecasts a decline in the average power user or the typical GIS analyst position as the end user has easier access to create, process, analyze and report on their own data relevant to their work. As the field grows and changes, it will require more specific knowledge, skills and abilities that many professionals have not developed over the changing technology – whether through habit or budget restraints.

With the availability of free training, GIS offered in high school, and open source GIS platforms becoming more available, the newer workforce will be more adapt to the advancing technology. This promotes a competitive environment as the retirement of older workers positions will need to be filled. While the older generation will still be able to compete for jobs, it will require more personal investment and re-education to the evolving industry standards as less companies exist to apply to.

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Forestry industry to trial drones

A Schiebel Drone Helicopter that Transpower are using to check the national grid. Photo: Greg Bowker.

Forestry crown research institute Scion will next month trial the use of drones for use in forestry management and hopes to be an early adopter of imminent rule changes allowing them to be flown beyond line of sight.

Scion has teamed up with Raglan-based Aeronavics to field test unmanned aerial vehicles mounted with interchangeable remote sensing technologies which can transmit vital information on various aspects of forestry management such as tree health and pests.

It's thought the technologies may also prove useful in biosecurity surveillance and eradication operations, along with fire management.

Scion science leader Bryan Graham says the public and privately-funded trials this year are about validating the drone technology which will have far-reaching implications beyond just the forestry industry.

Read more:
•New Zealand considers regulatory framework for drones to operate beyond-line-of-sight
• Transpower's spy in the sky


New Zealand is at the forefront of testing unmanned aerial flights and is set to have the world's first regulatory framework that allows beyond line of sight flights.

The Civil Aviation Authority is currently awaiting sign off from the Transport Minister on a new part 102 rule that would allow commercial drone operators to apply on a case-by-case basis for the safe operation of beyond line of sight flights rather than the blanket ban on them that currently applies in other countries.

Allowing drones to operate beyond the operator's line of sight could provide economic gains of up to $190 million a year to the farming, forestry and energy sectors, according to a recent report commissioned by Callaghan Innovation.

Graham said UAVs could change the way forests are managed.
"This will let us know more about the trees, whether it is a good tree, one that should be pulped, or one that could be exported. That kind of information at the moment is a bit lacking."

The two days of trials next month will cover between 500 and 1,000 hectares of central North Island forest and have been funded by Scion, but Graham says several forestry companies have indicated they'll also fund trial flights in the new financial year from July.

The flights cover remote stretches of land that aren't economically viable to measure by conventional aircraft and are too hard to access on foot.

Online marketplace Trade Me also said yesterday it was funding trials of delivery drones involving Australian start-up Flirtey and New Zealand Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR).

The first trial was launched last weekend to demonstrate Flirtey's ability to search for a missing person near Lake Roxburgh in the South Island and deliver emergency medical services.

Flirtey, based in Sydney and Nevada, is aiming to be the world's first UAV delivery company and has already conducted over a hundred successful test deliveries of textbooks with its partner Zookal in the US.

It wants to operate in four key industries - humanitarian, courier delivery, fast food, and online retail.

Trade Me said it thinks commercial drone delivery at scale is still some way from being meaningful whereas the chance to make a practical difference in search and rescue works feels like it could be much closer.

Flirtey chief executive Matthew Sweeney said the company had secured countrywide insurance coverage for drone delivery operations here and hopes once its safety record is established and its capabilities mature, to expand operations into populated areas and beyond line of sight.

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Callaghan Innovation aviation manager Chris Thomson said Flirtey is a good example of the growing momentum within the UAV industry on the commercial opportunities available once the new regulatory framework is introduced.

"It had surveyed 85 countries and chose to do the trials here. It thinks it can make more progress in New Zealand," he said.

Being at the forefront of regulatory change in the industry will give New Zealand companies first mover advantage over other competitors.

"They can prove the technology and capability, and build a brand and market reputation before anyone else does," Thomson said.

Businessdesk is funded to write about the commercialisation of innovation by Callaghan Innovation.

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