Irvine-based UMass Global, announced the establishment of the Institute for Geospatial Education. The aim of the institute is to offer online training and classes on how to use data related to a specific location, or geospatial technology. It will help the organizations to meet the transformation into social and economic ecosystems of the emerging post-pandemic world.
Upskilling the Employee of the Future
The institute will provide customizable online geospatial education teaching on how to apply geospatial technology. It will scale-up employees with the foundational skills for geospatial analysis, including geospatial storytelling and data-driven decision-making.
UMass Global Chancellor David Andrews said, “Geospatial technology can accelerate problem-solving, enabling those who use it to rise more quickly to address the challenges of the day, regardless of if these challenges surface from circumstances internal or external to the organization. By harnessing the university’s online capacity, the Institute for Geospatial Education can work across international borders to help partner organizations develop ’employees of the future’ among their ranks.”
An international consultancy, Geospatial World, projects the total volume of business activity within the field increasing from some $681 billion in 2025 to $1.4 trillion in 2030.
Empowering Global Partners
UMass Global’s Institute for Geospatial Education is partnering with businesses, governments, industries, organizations, agencies, and non-profits, equipping employees with geospatial industry-relevant skills. The university has also collaborated with Esri, which focuses on geographic information systems and analysis platforms, to open the institute.
Clint Brown, director of product engineering at Esri and a member of the Institute’s advisory board said, “GIS and location services enable people everywhere to track progress throughout communities and geographies worldwide. As such, the institute’s partners will rapidly become part of an ever-expanding group of problem solvers capable of addressing the big challenges that face our planet.”
Dr. Sheila Lakshmi Steinberg will serve as the institute’s inaugural director. Steinberg is faculty assembly president at UMass Global, she is the current president of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) and a well-known expert in the field, having co-edited “Resilient Communities Across Geographies” (Esri Press, 2021) and co-authored ” GIS Research Methods: Incorporating Spatial Perspectives” (Esri Press, 2015) and GIS for the Social Sciences (Sage Publications 2006).
The institute’s advisory board and affiliates have experts in the application of geospatial knowledge and related industries such as aerial imagery, remote sensing, sustainability, and data-driven decision making around the world. These known individuals and affiliates will bring cultural competencies and capacity to the new Institute for Geospatial Education, enabling the institute to execute services and valuable international partnerships upon launch. UMass Global, acquired by University of Massachusetts from Chapman University in 2021, has around 19,000 students total with 14,000 enrolled in academic credit programs.
