PE and RS PUBLIC November 2011 : Page-1082continued from page 1081 veloped during Phases I–III of the Forecast (2001–2002) highlight a strong consistency in the rates of projected growth when com-paring those from the 2001–2002 period with the 2010–2011 period. While the years 2011–2022 are projected using only the predicted growth levels provided by industry respondents in the most recent survey, the high level of consistency between the original projections and the latest data gives a high degree of confidence in the projections for the future. History would indicate the latest projections for the period 2011–2012 may actually be conservative. Workforce Issues and Implications Findings in Phase VI related to educational and workforce issues indicate that the industry has ample room for workers to enhance their employability by improving their geospatial educational level, especially with GIS applica-tions that incorporate remote sensing. The GRS private firm respondents indicated that 34% anticipated they would have problems hiring qualified workers in the U.S. Sixty-six percent did not anticipate problems finding qualified employees. The internet survey results indicate that the educational community is not provid-ing graduates with sufficient training in several skills, including geospatial applications tools, Lidar, photogrammetry, and verbal and writing skills. Spatial database understanding, Geodet-ic Science and Computer Programming were cited as important areas for future employees. The lack of sufficient verbal and written com-munication skills is a chronic problem faced by other industries as well, and corresponds with indications of a broad failing throughout all levels of the U.S. educational community. The results suggest that U.S. academic institutions are attracting a large number of very qualified students from across the globe. In most cases, the students that can qualify to study in the U.S. are among the best students from a nation. This influx of foreign talent fosters improved graduate research in the U.S. system, and for those students who remain in the U.S. after graduation, an influx of talent into the geospatial industry. An implication of these trends involves the basic research foundation of the geospatial industry. In an industry so linked to scientific and technological research and innovation, basic research is crucial to the future of the industry. Due to the nature of the geospatial industry in the U.S. (see Phase III–IV reports), a limited amount of basic geospatial research 1082 Figure 1. Estimate of remote sensing industry gross revenues. is done in the government (especially the civilian area) and private sectors. The univer-sity academic sector is the primary basis of research and the source of researchers for the U.S. Thus, the longer term trend of increasing foreign-born graduate students will affect the foundation of geospatial research in the U.S. in ways that may conflict with immigration, national security and educational policies. This will affect the long term innovation and competitiveness of the industry in an increas-ingly international marketplace. The hiring of employees who could obtain security clearances is a significant, but not critical issue. Most respondents reported limited problems in hiring employees who could be cleared. Industry retention of trained employees is a major problem. Phase’s I–III found that many firms and agencies had a relatively high turnover of newer employees (less than five years). Responses to the Phase IV survey indi-cated that lack of advancement and adequate compensation are the two primary reasons for job dissatisfaction. Phase VI echoes the previous results regarding retention of em-ployees. In the growing, competitive fields of high technology requiring skilled, educated employees, the remote sensing industry may not be providing sufficient compensation and advancement opportunities compared to other high technology opportunities to retain the needed workforce. Further, with the exception of a few large Fortune 500 firms, the generally smaller size of geospatial firms compared to other high technology fields may limit opportunities for advancement and the highest compen-sation. These results may also reflect the competition for trained civilian geospatial and remote sensing employees by the non-civilian contractor firms in the military and security arenas, which are not well sampled in Phases IV and VI. International Issues The issue of outsourcing of resources, pri-marily labor, for geospatial projects is a large economic and policy issue. Phase VI asked respondents to indicate whether more geo-spatial work is being performed or procured outside of the U.S. than 10 years ago. Respon-dents were asked to address two issues: 1) U.S.-based projects using foreign labor or 2) U.S. firms and agencies expanding into inter-national markets. Definitely, respondents felt that more outsourcing of resources, including labor for U.S. projects was taking place. Many respondents to the internet survey indicated that the international market for U.S. firms was expanding as well. These results were bolstered by the GRS where the percent of business activities that are undertaken by U.S.-based organizations in non-U.S. or for-eign areas was reported to be approximately 7.5% during 2010 and is projected to increase slightly to approximately 10% by 2020. When governmental contracts are let, a mix of products and services may be re-quested in the request for proposal. These standardized product deliverables can be provided using international lower cost Photogrammetric engineering & remote SenSing November 2011 Publication List Using a screen reader? Click Here |
