I thought this subject too important to just send to the GIS Committee/User Group so I’ve included a bunch more of the membership out there in hopes of getting more people involved and informed on what’s going on in GIS and how it will affect surveying in the future.

Here is a link to the free on-line version of the “National Land Parcel Data – A vision for the Future”
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11978#toc

I have also attached a PDF of the discussion earlier this year about this book on the Spatial Roundtable website http://www.spatialroundtable.com/

This is a very important issue that Surveyors need to take up and voice their opinion on in a unified manner. We need to proactively become part of the discussion and the direction that this data will be created, processed and used in the future. No matter what your level of understanding or use of GIS is, this could be a serious turning point in what surveying in the future will be.

GIS is growing by leaps and bounds and is pretty much an unstoppable force as to the question of “what’s next?” Changing technologies and the use of cloud web services and mash-ups involving thousands of servers and datasets across the globe connected together to act as one. Applications being written every minute of every day to work on GIS Servers, Phones, and multiple other devices to help us stay in touch in business and social networks.

What is our role as a Surveyor and Mapper? How are we going to stay the experts in measurements when GPS technologies and uses are becoming easier and easier for the everyday person to use and understand. How do we keep the expertise of being able to follow in the footsteps of those that came before us in defining the land and keeping the public interests at heart? We are losing our mystique and the expertise we have always had to keep us separated from the mainstream, so what are we going to do about it. Become involved and start reaching out to gain that knowledge you lack before it’s too late. Slow times are upon us, so there’s no better time to learn than now.

Please take the time to read through the on-line paper and the discussion and keep the profession in mind as to what our roles currently are and how that will change if we do not get more involved.

Regards,
Richard D Pryce, P.S.M.