feeling the strain... tense??

In the world of GIS… its actually very tough to define this profession… you neither belong here or there. In Malaysia there are only a handful of good GIS hives. Mainly installed in government agencies (cause they can afford to buy), its usage and benefits have not reached a satisfactory level. Many of these Malaysian agencies buy GIS for the sake of having the latest software or just to look impressive among peers. Sad. Its s still a new field… still in infancy… compared to traditional studies which have been around for many years.

So… sometimes being a GIS Engineer, Developer or Technician… it gets a bit blur … tense... especially when it comes to career direction or software path to lead. Many of us come from ‘traditional’ GIS study backgrounds like Urban&Regional Planning, Survey, Geography, Forestry etc. This can lead to some confusion and overlap of duties. We need to learn other industries too... fast. Many of us are left confused with these new functions and skills… some leave due to frustration and lack of motivation. Its tough.. for beginners.

I believe what’s exciting and motivating about GIS is the ever evolving technology and tools… the power of computing, new programming languages and enterprise databases / storage… but we need to understand that the results and analysis in many cases are the same. The quality of data input is crucial too. Its just that over time these outputs and results are getting faster and easier to understand. Its an evolution of computing speed that drives GIS software to make decisions faster and better. That should be the focus… its not about having cool software tools, attractive UI or fancy animations… its about results. Quality and Usable results.