Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/50311
1992. This exercise provides our editorial advisory board members a chance to reflect on a year's worth of changes to the geotechnology industry as well as ponder what the future may hold. It seemed that 2011 was more stable than the last G couple of years, but that doesn't mean everything was rosy. Times continue to be tough financially throughout the world, and the geotechnology sector still is no exception (although it continues to fare better than the general economy). Unfortunately, young people, particularly those just out of college, have been especially hard hit by the recession of the last few years. Graduating with a college degree right now isn't enough in many indus- tries, and finding that "first job" has proven to be quite difficult. So that's why we had every member of our advisory board comment on where future career opportunities lie in geotechnology; we wanted as much advice as possible on this subject. And it won't just eoWorld magazine is again proud to publish this end-of-year "future-casting" feature, which has been a fixture of our December issue since be helpful for those in their twenties. Many people who have found it difficult to find jobs in their previous occupation are returning to school and getting more education in the fields that are hiring. Fortunately, geo- technology seems to be one of those fields. We then provided a selection of additional optional questions, but it seems we should have made the question on cloud computing mandatory, as almost everyone opted to answer it. Apparently, it's arguable what the "other" game-changing technologies were in 2011, but everyone agrees that cloud computing has altered the landscape in a major way. Will it con- tinue to leave its mark on the industry in 2012, with more companies creating and opting for cloud-based options? Or will some new technology take over as the No. 1 buzzword in the next year? You'll have to keep reading to find out. But don't forget, this printed version represents a small segment of the insight that was collected. To read each board member's responses in their entirety, see the feature archive on the Web at www.geoplace.com. What are the future career opportunities for individuals interested in geospatial technology? Dan Adams: As recently as five years ago, the biggest need was for people who could build use- ful databases and quickly estab- lish relationships among those databases (e.g., georeference, conflate, etc.). The biggest need today is in understanding how to extract value (and money) from data in the form of information and applications that find the balance between use- fulness and privacy. We all see companies that offer "LBS" services in the news, because they're trying to find this answer. Geospatial professionals of the future are going to need to successfully manage all of these moving parts. Dan Adams, vice president of Product Management, TomTom Chris Andrews: GIS has become so ingrained as part of urban planning and landscape ecology that we're seeing civil-engineer- ing and architectural firms begin to develop specialties in GIS to satisfy the demands of the plan- ning process for government and commercial customers. The U.S. Census Bureau calls out urban planning as a growth field for new jobs during the next decade, and it's doubtful that any urban planner hired in the future won't at least know what GIS can do for them. Applied geoscience skills still are in relatively high demand in the biological, geological and intelligence Chris Andrews, senior product manager, Autodesk DECEMBER 2O11 / WWW . GEOPLA CE . COM 15