Promoting the use of GIS by supporting professionals – part 1

How can GIS managers best promote their expertise within Canadian organizations? This blog post looks at an innovative initiative launched by Esri Canada to strengthen the GIS professional community. Using GIS leadership forums and peer groups, find out how this program helps overcome real-world challenges such as lack of recognition for the profession, while promoting innovation and collaboration within the GIS professional community.

Development Program for the GIS Professional Community: Part 1

A little over a year ago, I assumed responsibility for the GIS Professional Community Development Program, a new initiative launched by Esri Canada. I would like to share with you is the program's mission: to support the GIS professional community to promote their expertise across Canada. We believe that by gaining greater recognition for GIS, Canadian organizations will be better equipped to meet the challenges they are and will be facing.

In the first of this two-part blog series, I would like to share with you two initiatives undertaken over the past year to give you a better understanding of this program. First, I will give you more information about the GIS Leadership Forums, which have taken place three times this year. In the second post, I will outline the work that will be carried out by the peer groups we have created following these forums.

Promoting the use of GIS by supporting professionals: a new initiative launched by at Esri Canada

On May 28, June 24 and September 23, Esri Canada hosted three GIS Leadership Forums in Calgary, Toronto and Montréal, respectively. These events designed for GIS managers were intended to share best practices in GIS program development and provide opportunities for peer networking. Members of Esri Canada's management consulting team and other guest organizations discussed the essential skills for GIS managers, integrating a GIS program within the organizational structure, geospatial strategy, and strategies for developing innovation. Each presentation was followed by a round of discussions among the participants, who were split into groups of about eight professionals. They were then asked to share their small-group conclusions with the whole group. The information shared by the participants was invaluable: it helped to spark innovation within the group.

Many observations were made during these discussions. Several managers noted that they had difficulty securing budgets for employee training. Others mentioned that they struggled to effectively communicate the value of their GIS expertise within their organizations. These last two challenges were raised frequently at the Toronto and Montréal forums. This issue can be even more challenging in certain industries where managers have to deal with frequent organizational changes. For example, in the energy industry, the biggest players acquire their competitors and their GIS departments. In this situation, the manager now has to deal with a whole new GIS team! Retaining staff within the organization can also be a major challenge in this context. These findings were often raised at the Calgary forum. Participants mentioned the scarcity of GIS labour as one of the reasons for this situation.

Fortunately, there are possible solutions. Several managers mentioned promoting GIS Day within their organizations by hosting a viewing session open to all employees. Based on numerous examples of how GIS can be used to solve real-world problems, this event, which takes a more accessible—and above all, less technical—approach, effectively highlights how GIS can be used to make informed decisions. A number of managers mentioned that they had reaped many benefits from implementing a geospatial strategy, whether it was presented on a single page or in a more detailed report. Indeed, a geospatial strategy allows GIS managers to involve other stakeholders in their organization and to showcase their expertise.

Summary: Boosting the GIS footprint within your organization

We feel that by giving Canadian GIS managers the correct best practices and skills to lead their GIS teams, the professionals on their teams will also benefit. This will enable managers and professionals to more effectively position their expertise. In my next post, we’ll look at how peer groups are another way to get GIS professionals recognized by Canadian institutions.

This post was written in French by Frédéric Blouin-Michaud and can be viewed here.