The Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM) is depicted as a pyramid with nine tiers.  This depiction illustrates how occupational and industry competencies build on a foundation of personal effectiveness, academic, and workplace competencies.  Each tier consists of one or more blocks representing the skills, knowledge, and abilities essential for successful performance in the industry or occupation represented by the model. At the base of the model, competencies apply to a large number of occupations and industries. As a user moves up the model, the competencies become industry- and occupation-specific.  This document specifies competencies required for worker success in the geospatial industry, from the most general “Personal Effectiveness Competencies” (Tier 1) to the sector-specific competencies presented in Tier 5.  Additional occupation-specific competencies and requirements (Tiers 6-8), as well as management competencies (Tier 9) are beyond the scope of this article.

Although the pyramid graphic implies a third dimension, the GTCM presented in this document is a two-dimensional model. A true three-dimensional GTCM would include consideration of the domain-specific competencies required for success in each of the many allied fields that rely on geospatial technologies and employ geospatial professionals.  A list of such allied fields is presented among the Technical Content Areas associated with the Analysis and Modeling sector of Tier 5, the industry sector in which many geospatial technology end-users work.  (A three-dimensional “market forecast framework” is suggested in Mondello, Hepner and Williamson, 2004.)

Expected uses of the GTCM include career guidance, curriculum development and assessment, recruitment and hiring, continuing professional development, criteria for voluntary certification, and outreach efforts intended to communicate characteristics of the geospatial field to the public.  GTCM users should bear in mind that the pyramid framework is not intended to suggest a sequence of competency attainment or that certain competencies are of greater value or higher skill than others.  The body of the GTCM is a table that contains definitions and associated key behaviors for each competency block depicted in the pyramid.

Foundational Competencies

Tiers 1 through 3 represent the “soft-skills” and work readiness skills that most employers demand. Each tier covers a different group of competencies:

Tier 1 – Personal Effectiveness Competencies are personal attributes essential for all life roles. Often referred to as "soft skills," personal effectiveness competencies are generally learned in the home or community and honed at school and in the workplace.

Tier 2 – Academic Competencies are primarily learned in a school setting. They include cognitive functions and thinking styles. Academic competencies are likely to apply to all industries and occupations.

Tier 3 – Workplace Competencies represent motives and traits, as well as interpersonal and self-management styles. They are generally applicable to a large number of occupations and industries.

Industry-specific Competencies

Tier 4 – Industry-Wide Technical Competencies cover the knowledge, skills, and abilities from which workers across the industry can benefit, regardless of the sector in which they operate. These competencies are considered cross-cutting, as they allow a worker to move easily across industry sub-sectors. Because of this, many of the critical work functions on this tier deal with awareness or understanding, rather than performing specific job tasks.

Listed in this tier are 43 examples of “Critical Work Functions” that many geospatial professionals will be expected to perform during their careers.  Following the Work Functions are “Technical Content Areas” – the background knowledge upon which skills and abilities are based.  These lists are exemplary, not exhaustive; geospatial professionals are called upon to demonstrate other abilities and knowledge depending on their particular roles and positions.  Furthermore, few if any workers are responsible for every Critical Work Function in any one job.  Thus, the examples cited represent both the core competencies of the geospatial field and the diversity of professional practice within it.

Tier 5 – Industry-Sector Technical Competencies represent a sub-set of industry technical competencies that are specific to an industry sector.

This tier identifies Critical Work Functions and Technical Content Areas required for worker success in each of three industry sectors: (1) Positioning and Geospatial Data Acquisition; (2) Analysis and Modeling; and (3) Software and Application Development.  The sectors represent clusters of worker competencies associated with three major categories of geospatial industry products and services.  The Critical Work Functions listed for each sector are exemplary rather than exhaustive, representing the diversity of professional practice in the geospatial field.  The responsibilities of many individual geospatial professionals span two or even three sectors.  However, few if any workers are responsible for every Work Function listed in a given sector.  A few Critical Work Functions are restricted in some circumstances by U.S. State law to professionals who are licensed to perform such tasks.

Positioning and Data Acquisition:  Sales of geospatial data account for over one-third of total geospatial industry revenues.  In the U.S., Federal, state, and local government agencies are major consumers, but utilities, telecommunications firms, and other geographically-extensive organizations also rely on up-to-date geospatial data for their business operations.  Workers in this sector are expert in the unique geometric and thematic properties of geospatial data, and are especially knowledgeable about the factors that affect data quality.  They know how various data production technologies work—including the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS—and its component technologies such as GPS), airborne and satellite-based sensors, photogrammetric instruments, surveying instruments, real time GPS/GIS mapping systems, and other field data collection devices—and know how to deploy them to meet project requirements.  Others are expert in field data collection, qualitative survey methods, administrative records and databases, and other data capture methods and technologies used to collect georeferenced observations and measurements.  In addition to traditional modes of capturing data through remote sensing, surveying, and other field-based methods, this sector includes newer modes that incorporate the positioning capabilities of mobile phones and in-car navigation systems, as well as volunteered geospatial data gathered from social media and Internet technologies.  Despite many laypersons’ assumption that the world has already been mapped, the efforts of a large portion of the geospatial workforce continue to be devoted to the production of georeferenced data. 

Analysis and Modeling:  This sector encompasses the professional end-users of geospatial data and software, many of whom are employed in geospatial occupations within allied industries (such as those identified in the Technical Content Areas section below, under Organizational and Institutional Aspects).  Successful practitioners in this sector know when and how to employ analytical functions of geospatial software tools to render valid and reliable information from geospatial data.  Many are fluent with both data-driven “exploratory” analyses as well as model-driven analyses for hypothesis testing and prediction.  Some analysts specialize in designing and implementing geospatial databases that enable efficient analyses.  Others specialize in processing remotely-sensed image data.  Still others are licensed by state governments to perform legal analyses of land records.

Software and Application Development:  This sector accounts for the largest share of sales revenue earned in the geospatial industry.  Geospatial software products vary from full-featured GIS software products, to specialized applications targeted to the needs of particular user communities, to component toolkits used by developers to create specialized end-user applications.  Software products also include applications for processing, analysis, or adding value to remotely sensed data.  In addition to workers employed by commercial software development firms, many geospatial professionals in diverse settings create specialized software applications to automate routine tasks and to customize end-user interfaces.  Increasingly common is non-professional development of customized map “mashups” based on online mapping systems that expose Application Programming Interfaces.  However, the Work Functions outlined below apply specifically to geospatial professionals whose primary work roles include software and application development.

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Mohammad Hassan Adjigol

June 3, 2016