County group endorses GIS certification
The National Association of Counties has endorsed a certification program for geographic-information systems (GIS) specialists.
The National Association of Counties has endorsed a certification program for geographic-information systems (GIS) specialists.
The associations GIS Committee issued a letter of support last month for the GIS Certification Institutes certification program. The institute issues a GIS Professional certification to people who meet minimum standards for education, professional experience and contribution to the profession.
The associations letter represents a general endorsement of the institutes certification process, said Scott Grams, executive director of the institute.
Grams said any practitioner can claim to be a GIS professional, noting that GIS is an unregulated field. The purpose of certification, he added, is to separate professionals or GISPs from casual users of the technology.
To date, more than 325 GISPs work in county government, he said. County workers represent about 20 percent of the total GISP population.
State geographic-information councils have also shown interest in GIS certification. In 2004, North Carolina became the first state to endorse the institutes program. Oregons geographic-information council has also endorsed certification, Grams said. Those were unsolicited endorsements, he added.
The institute, a nonprofit organization based in Park Ridge, Ill., now looks to get endorsements from five more states, and it has targeted six more to recruit after that, Grams said. The institutes goal is to secure an endorsement from each state's geographic-information council.
More than 2,000 counties are members of the Washington-based National Association of Counties.
The associations GIS Committee issued a letter of support last month for the GIS Certification Institutes certification program. The institute issues a GIS Professional certification to people who meet minimum standards for education, professional experience and contribution to the profession.
The associations letter represents a general endorsement of the institutes certification process, said Scott Grams, executive director of the institute.
Grams said any practitioner can claim to be a GIS professional, noting that GIS is an unregulated field. The purpose of certification, he added, is to separate professionals or GISPs from casual users of the technology.
To date, more than 325 GISPs work in county government, he said. County workers represent about 20 percent of the total GISP population.
State geographic-information councils have also shown interest in GIS certification. In 2004, North Carolina became the first state to endorse the institutes program. Oregons geographic-information council has also endorsed certification, Grams said. Those were unsolicited endorsements, he added.
The institute, a nonprofit organization based in Park Ridge, Ill., now looks to get endorsements from five more states, and it has targeted six more to recruit after that, Grams said. The institutes goal is to secure an endorsement from each state's geographic-information council.
More than 2,000 counties are members of the Washington-based National Association of Counties.
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