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| GeoCommunity Mailing List |
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| Subject: | RE: [gislist] Re: certification (?) |
| Date: |
10/22/2003 01:15:01 PM |
| From: |
David Brubacher |
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It is not currently mandatory, nor is it currently a license. Both are
in the works, but when it becomes mandatory, the grandfathering window
will need to be re-opened so that people who did not apply or did not
know about it should be able to continue in their chosen careers.
It is though, much more than 'nice to have'. I am excerpting from
another email here because of the additional information I've included.
=20
1. In this context OLIP is actually Ontario Land Information
Professional not Ontario Legislator Intern Program. It is not law based
per se other than a cadastral land surveyor can be described as a land
lawyer. I am not a cadastral land surveyor, but I am a land surveyor. It
is like the engineering profession: Chemical, Structural, Civil - they
are all engineers but are prohibited from working in each others
sub-discipline. An Ontario Land Surveyor who falls under the GIS heading
is called a GIM.
2. A GIM is not a technician. The initials stand for Geographic
Information MANAGER. As such, project, personnel and financial
management skills are necessary to attain the designation. A GIM would
manage a group of technicians or like me, be an independent consultant.
A GIM is therefore much more than a secretary as you've alluded to - a
GIM is part of management. Also, a GIM does not actually need to be a
user of GIS data.
3. A non-resident of Ontario can become a GIM mainly because Ontario is
the first and only jurisdiction to provide this type of designation.
Many jurisdictions, including many US states provide a GIS license, but
they are all technically based. The advantage of our form of designation
is that as a manager, you are no longer the technician, the map-guy, the
low paid computer hack, etc. You may still DO all of those jobs, but you
are entitled to remind those who would keep you down that you have a
professional designation, which leads me to...
4. Public Awareness. There are all sorts of reasons why GIS needs
professionals who are regulated by a professional body and who must
abide by professional ethics. Protection of the public and public safety
certainly comes to mind. If a technician builds a 911 map incorrectly
and someone dies as a result, who is to blame? Should we not have an
enforceable set of ethics, best practices and peer review to help avoid
these problems? Should we not have an association with the power to
discipline those who fail to live up to their ethical and contractual
obligations? I obviously think we do! By making the public (or your
clients, or your boss) aware that you are being held to a higher
standard, and selling the advantages of that higher standard, that a
professional can increase the esteem of their profession.
5. I believe that we ultimately need a 'bundle' of designations and
certifications. I will probably get the URISA certification simply in
order to demonstrate my technical ability. I will also acquire
certification from the Canadian Institute of Geomatics when it becomes
available for exactly the same reasons. Lastly, I will pursue ISO
certification to demonstrate my adherence to quality and documentation
standards. With this collection of certificates, my clients can be sure
they are purchasing competent, high quality and ethical services.
=20
So in closing, I don't agree with Chris. The 'lesser salary' only exists
because it is allowed to exist. Also, GIS _is_ everything! You can't
became less of everything. A planner uses GIS techniques even if they
don't know it, as does almost every other field I can think of. It is up
to us to shift the perception of the public and our colleagues to
realize that spatial information is critical to their career, their
health and their welfare. As custodians of that spatial information we
must demand the respect we deserve.
David M. Brubacher O.L.S. O.L.I.P.
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike [mailto:mjsnow@direcway.com]=20
Sent: October 22, 2003 1:58 PM
To: gislist@lists.geocomm.com
Subject: RE: [gislist] Re: certification (?)
What is the actual status of this certification. Is it required to
actually work in the field much like an RN or a licensed civil engineer,
or is it just a nice certification that tell everyone the holder has
proven skills?
Mike Schnobrich
-----Original Message-----
From: gislist-bounces@lists.geocomm.com
[mailto:gislist-bounces@lists.geocomm.com] On Behalf Of David Brubacher
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2003 9:00 AM
To: sborovska@tompkins-co.org: gislist@lists.thinkburst.com
Subject: RE: [gislist] Re: certification (?)
I will leave the URISA response to others, however, the Association of
Ontario Land Surveyors www.aols.org has extended its profession to
include Geographic Information Managers.
Upon application and articles, a successful candidate would actually
carry a professional designation (O.L.S. O.L.I.P.) as opposed to a
certificate.
Under NAFTA and GATT this professional designation theo
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