Despite its need for highly specialized knowledge and skills, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has the luxury of being a small employer in the “burgeoning” geospatial enterprise field, according to a report from the National Research Council.
The report, “Future U.S. Workforce for Geospatial Intelligence,” found that NGA is likely finding enough experts in all core areas, with the possible exception of geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing. But the report found shortages in photogrammetry, cartography and geodesy likely in the short term, followed by possible shortages in emerging areas in the long term.
Despite concerns over these shortages, the report was optimistic NGA would be able to overcome these hurdles by using mechanisms to build the knowledge and skills it will require, such as strengthening existing training programs, building core and emerging areas and enhancing recruiting.
“With attention to these areas, NGA has the ability both to meet its workforce needs and to be adaptive to a changing mission during the next 20 years and potentially well beyond,” the report found.
The report specifically analyzed the NGA workforce in five core areas (geodesy and geophysics; photogrammetry; remote sensing; cartographic science; GIS and geospatial analysis) and five emerging areas (geospatial intelligence [GEOINT] fusion, crowdsourcing, human geography, visual analytics and forecasting). The report found that past trends suggest that the number of new graduates will rise over the next 20 years in all areas except photogrammetry and cartography, which are shrinking due to digital advances (cartography) and automation and emergence of other methods (photogrammetry). The report specifically emphasized its concern with the decline of photogrammetry as a specialized field of study in universities.
The report found that because it is a small employer NGA only hires a small fraction of available experts. The report also found that there appears to be enough cartographers, photogrammetrists and geodesists for NGA’s current needs. Future shortages seem likely, though, in cartography, photogrammetry and geodesy because the number of graduates is too small, likely in the range of tens to hundreds, according to the report.
The report found a math and skills gap in many natural and social science programs and a spatial skills gap in many computer science and engineering programs. These are likely to persist until more interdisciplinary programs develop, according to the report. Though the supply of experts is larger than NGA demand in all core and emerging areas, the report found qualified GIS and remote sensing experts may already be hard to find.
“Long before 2030, competition and a small number of graduates will likely result in shortages in cartography, photogrammetry, geodesy and all emerging areas,” the report found.
There are a multitude of ways for NGA to build the specialized expertise it needs in the future, including strengthening existing training programs, building core and emerging areas and enhancing recruiting, according to the report. NGA could encourage university professors to develop short courses in emerging areas, the report found. The report wrote that NGA could also increase the number of employees who participate in a vector study program, which the report described as an educational program attended by NGA employees that allows them to collect full salary and benefits while completing course work.
View the report here: http://bit.ly/Vd5anL