5 Skills You’ll Master With a Geographic Information Systems Degree

Since geographic evidence has a wide range of applications, you can work in any number of fields and learn to make informed decisions that deliver results. Image from Unsplash

Poornima Apte May 21, 2019

How to work the crystal ball?

In this course, participants learn core principles, concepts, and methods of continuous improvement and explore the history of continuous improvement efforts. In a series of lectures, Master Black Belt in Six Sigma Shane Wentz, Ph.D., enables learners to enhance, optimize, and stabilize business processes and to augment quality control through varied methodologies. Participants gain the skills and knowledge to reimagine internal processes, engage in advanced problem-solving, and empower employees. The course covers high-level foundational principles of Lean, Six Sigma, and DMAIC processes before diving deep into Lean Six Sigma methods. Learners will analyze the tools of process mapping, Kaizen (a continuous improvement method/tool deemed a prerequisite for Lean transformation success), Lean (a continuous improvement philosophy that emphasizes streamlined workflows and reducing waste), and the process improvement methodology driving DMAIC: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.

Entrepreneurs fostering new ventures outside of well-developed entrepreneurial ecosystems like Silicon Valley face significant challenges. These markets are unlike Silicon Valley, and they will likely remain so. That doesn't mean they can't nurture and sustain new businesses. In transitioning markets that lack abundant private sector financing, creative approaches from government officials, donors, and business leaders can fill the void to support entrepreneurial activity. Northeast Ohio (where Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University are located) has become a laboratory for such innovative solutions. During our time together in this course, we will explore some of these creative approaches to promoting regional entrepreneurship. Northeast Ohio has seen a massive infusion of government and donor resources for over ten years. In that time, Northeast Ohio has promoted regional development (including job creation and follow-on funding) through alternative methods of financing startups. It has not been easy. The region has made progress, but it remains to be seen whether it has struck upon an enduring formula. A dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem takes many years, even decades, to develop. Government policymakers and donors typically seek quicker returns on their support programs, which makes long-term support for entrepreneurship challenging. This course includes case studies and first-person testimonials from entrepreneurs who have launched products and services ranging from medical devices to LED lights to whiskey. You will learn how these entrepreneurs discovered and procured resources from various programs and intermediary organizations. You will hear from business people still in the process of developing their companies as well as those whose ventures have flourished. Our focus will extend beyond Cleveland to selected markets around the world, including Greece, Vietnam, Tunisia, Argentina, Rwanda and China. You will learn about international incentives and other supports available to developing startups and small businesses across the globe. This course examines how different communities around the world approach implementing strategies and methods to support businesses. I will ask you to reflect on how to apply the principles we learn to growing entrepreneurship where you live. The social interactive features of the online platform will enable students from around the world to share ideas and learn from one another. Most MOOCs rebroadcast professors’ lectures; this course is different. Don’t expect to see me standing in front of the camera, talking and lecturing every module. Instead, the lectures will be relatively short in length. They have more of the feel of an engaging documentary than a static classroom setting. ## __What type of person takes the *Beyond Silicon Valley* course?__ - Active and aspiring businesspeople in communities looking to initiate new startup ecosystems or bolster existing ones - Current and prospective entrepreneurs who want to learn about funding sources, risk management, and the lifecycle of startups - Professionals who work in government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, philanthropic institutions, and various private funds that fund startups - Anyone curious about how to create and grow startup ecosystems outside the major tech hubs - The principles Beyond Silicon Valley teaches have been drawn from and applied to startups worldwide, from small villages to megalopolises. You'll study success stories spanning the globe from Vietnam to Kosovo to Botswana. ## __What will you learn in *Beyond Silicon Valley*?__ - How and where startups can find funding to get their businesses off the ground - What role government can play in encouraging startups and a healthy startup ecosystem - How anchor institutions such as universities and healthcare systems participate in startup ecosystems - How nongovernmental organizations support startups - How to raise funds from venture capitalists, angel investors, and accelerators - How to navigate challenging periods in the startup lifecycle - The importance of mentoring in successful startups

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Consider these three events:

When Nebraska experienced historic flooding, crucial decisions had to be made about evacuating people and pets before the worst of it hit.
Whole Foods or your local grocery store sends you a flyer that contains loads of coupons for products you are very tempted to buy.
The US government announces it has discovered that North Korea is reactivating a nuclear production facility it had previously taken offline.

These three seemingly unrelated incidents have one common thread: geographic information systems (GIS) data. GIS is essentially a mapping tool that gathers, organizes, and stores geospatial data for analysis. The data gathered can be as diverse as engineers want them to be: from physical coordinates of forests, rivers, mountains to details about building locations and uses (nuclear facility, anyone?) to socio-economic data about area residents and more. GIS fuels many intelligence operations—whether they are in retail or at the highest levels of government.

The median salary for GIS jobs is in the neighborhood of $53,000, and the number of job opportunities is expected to grow at an impressive 20 percent clip through 2022 as more and more employers find themselves in need of GIS specialists. Those are reasonably promising numbers, suggesting that now might be a good time to consider investing in a bachelor's degree or, better still, a master’s degree in geographic information systems.

If you’re eager for a peek under the hood, expect to learn the following five skills while pursuing a geographic information systems degree.

1. How to make informed decisions

GIS jobs will have you gather all relevant data about neighborhoods, cities, countries to drive decisions based on this robust data. Since geographic evidence has a wide range of applications, you can work in any number of fields and learn to make informed decisions that deliver results. Should you decide to switch industries at some point, your fungible experience will travel with you.

A GIS analyst in a state’s department of environmental protection, for example, can use GIS software to predict exactly where rivers are going to flood and when. Government officials might lean on such information to issue evacuation orders. Public health employees use GIS data to monitor the spread of disease and proactively issue disaster responses. If you want to work in retail, you can use geospatial intelligence to gauge the effectiveness of marketing campaigns — a sales flyer from an exclusive store, for example, can target neighborhoods with relatively high median incomes or home values.

2. How to understand interconnectedness

GIS data is often layered, starting with basic geographical coordinates like latitude and longitude and then mapping additional attributes such as physical features (parks, schools etc.) and neighborhoods, census data such as the number of children in various homes, and more.

As these seemingly disparate points of information are all connected by location, neat patterns begin to emerge and you become skilled at analyzing the interconnectedness of certain data sets such as income and school achievements, flooding and expenditure on drainage, and more.

3. How to read photographic — or any other — evidence

The frustrating aspect of GIS is that data might come from anywhere. The fun aspect of GIS is that data might come from anywhere. A geographic information systems master’s degree will make you an ace sleuth, able to find data no matter in which form it might be presented — through an aerial photograph or in actual Cartesian maps.

4. How to be a historian

You have to know the past to understand the present. Layered GIS data gathered over long periods of time can point to how processes evolve. For example, scientists can use satellite data from the polar ice caps to show the effects of climate change. Time-lapse photography of ocean shorelines can also document erosion and other long-term patterns. Similarly, data about forests can show the incidences and strengths of forest fires. Since a GIS job allows you to work with disparate data and plug it all into a uniformly workable system, earning a GIS master's will make you a skilled historian, able to tell the story of a place over time.

5. How to work the crystal ball

Working in GIS is not merely about learning past history; it’s about using that history to predict the future. A master’s in GIS will teach you how to gaze into the crystal ball and forecast outcomes proactively.

Significant savings are to be had if professionals can, for example, predict shoreline erosion to environmental protection, real estate and tourism industries. Knowledge of when and where disasters (even slowly unfolding ones) are going to hit can give decision-makers the intelligence they need to make strategic business decisions about resource allotment.

GIS professionals are in increasing demand especially on the frontlines of climate change. If you enjoy being steeped in varied and valuable information about the systems around you, a master’s in geographic information systems might well be worth a look.

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