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NDGIS 2013 - How to Remain Relevant in the Age of Change or What GIS Pros Can Do to Keep their Skills in Demand

James Fee
September 25, 2013

NDGIS 2013 - How to Remain Relevant in the Age of Change or What GIS Pros Can Do to Keep their Skills in Demand

James Fee

September 25, 2013
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  1. How to Remain Relevant in
    the Age of Change
    James Fee
    Founder – Spatially Adjusted
    or
    What GIS Pros Can
    Do to Keep their
    Skills in Demand

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  2. What is GIS?

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  3. What is GIS?
    Who Cares?

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  4. What are GIS Professionals?

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  5. What are GIS Professionals?
    Programmers!

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  6. Say

    Wut?

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  7. Programmer 

    /= 

    Developer
    Photo by Joachim S. Müller - http://flic.kr/p/egrei2

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  8. View Slide

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  10. James’ Definition of a
    GIS Professional
    Someone digitally creates and "manipulates"
    spatial areas that may be jurisdictional,
    purpose, or application-oriented.

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  11. attribution: ESRI International User Conference - 2011 - San Diego, California by Kris Krüg http://flic.kr/p/a2rdhq CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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  12. Embrace the
    Tools of
    Programmers

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  13. View Slide

  14. GIS

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  15. Esri in the 70’s

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  16. ArcInfo

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  17. ARC/INFO Required Prime Computer

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  18. View Slide

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  24. View Slide

  25. ArcGIS Desktop

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  26. ArcGIS Desktop

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  27. ArcGIS Desktop

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  28. View Slide

  29. View Slide

  30. View Slide

  31. Why The History Lesson?

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  32. Photo by dullhunk - http://flic.kr/p/zDLZm

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  33. View Slide

  34. A Simpler Time

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  35. A Simpler Time

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  36. Problems with Wizards
    • Wizards cause us to
    conform
    • Options are either preset or
    confusing
    • Lack of documenting the
    process

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  37. Familiarity is a Tough
    Nut to Crack
    Most GIS
    Professionals
    only know
    ArcToolbox

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  38. View Slide

  39. View Slide

  40. View Slide

  41. With the Command Line
    • Freedom to work with the data as you want
    • Better understanding of the commands
    • Combined with scripting you have a recipe for
    future work. AKA documentation!

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  42. Programming GIS
    1999-2004

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  43. Programming GIS
    1999-2004
    • Start up ArcCatalog (wait 2-4 min while it loads)

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  44. Programming GIS
    1999-2004
    • Start up ArcCatalog (wait 2-4 min while it loads)
    • Browse for toolbox (clicking through the endless tree)

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  45. Programming GIS
    1999-2004
    • Start up ArcCatalog (wait 2-4 min while it loads)
    • Browse for toolbox (clicking through the endless tree)
    • Open tool dialog

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  46. Programming GIS
    1999-2004
    • Start up ArcCatalog (wait 2-4 min while it loads)
    • Browse for toolbox (clicking through the endless tree)
    • Open tool dialog
    • Browse for input dataset

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  47. Programming GIS
    1999-2004
    • Start up ArcCatalog (wait 2-4 min while it loads)
    • Browse for toolbox (clicking through the endless tree)
    • Open tool dialog
    • Browse for input dataset
    • Browse for any optional data for analysis

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  48. Programming GIS
    1999-2004
    • Start up ArcCatalog (wait 2-4 min while it loads)
    • Browse for toolbox (clicking through the endless tree)
    • Open tool dialog
    • Browse for input dataset
    • Browse for any optional data for analysis
    • Browse for an output location

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  49. Programming GIS
    1999-2004
    • Start up ArcCatalog (wait 2-4 min while it loads)
    • Browse for toolbox (clicking through the endless tree)
    • Open tool dialog
    • Browse for input dataset
    • Browse for any optional data for analysis
    • Browse for an output location
    • Fill out options

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  50. Programming GIS
    1999-2004
    • Start up ArcCatalog (wait 2-4 min while it loads)
    • Browse for toolbox (clicking through the endless tree)
    • Open tool dialog
    • Browse for input dataset
    • Browse for any optional data for analysis
    • Browse for an output location
    • Fill out options
    • Click OK and pray it doesn’t crash

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  51. Programming GIS the
    ArcINFO Way

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  52. Programming GIS the
    ArcINFO Way
    • Start up Command Prompt (about a
    second)

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  53. Programming GIS the
    ArcINFO Way
    • Start up Command Prompt (about a
    second)
    • Type simple command (BUILD, CLIP, etc)

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  54. Programming GIS the
    ArcINFO Way
    • Start up Command Prompt (about a
    second)
    • Type simple command (BUILD, CLIP, etc)
    • Hit Enter

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  55. Programming GIS the
    ArcINFO Way
    • Start up Command Prompt (about a
    second)
    • Type simple command (BUILD, CLIP, etc)
    • Hit Enter
    • Tell everyone how hard it was

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  56. AML Scripting

    in ARC/INFO
    clip soils studbndy stdysoil

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  57. Where is Python Used?

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  58. Where is Python Used?
    • GIS Applications (ArcGIS, QGIS, Safe FME,
    Autodesk)

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  59. Where is Python Used?
    • GIS Applications (ArcGIS, QGIS, Safe FME,
    Autodesk)
    • Web Frameworks (WeoGeo.com, Google)

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  60. Where is Python Used?
    • GIS Applications (ArcGIS, QGIS, Safe FME,
    Autodesk)
    • Web Frameworks (WeoGeo.com, Google)
    • Anywhere (Corel, Civilization, Gmail)

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  61. Where is Python Used?
    • GIS Applications (ArcGIS, QGIS, Safe FME,
    Autodesk)
    • Web Frameworks (WeoGeo.com, Google)
    • Anywhere (Corel, Civilization, Gmail)
    • Become the de-facto scripting language

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  62. ArcPy, the New
    Command Line

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  63. ArcPy, the New
    Command Line
    • Much like the Arc prompt and AML, ArcPy and
    Python give us a powerful analysis and scripting
    method.

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  64. ArcPy, the New
    Command Line
    • Much like the Arc prompt and AML, ArcPy and
    Python give us a powerful analysis and scripting
    method.
    • ArcPy builds on the commands we learned 15
    years ago.

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  65. ArcPy, the New
    Command Line
    • Much like the Arc prompt and AML, ArcPy and
    Python give us a powerful analysis and scripting
    method.
    • ArcPy builds on the commands we learned 15
    years ago.
    • ArcPy is integrated in ArcMap

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  66. ArcPy, the New
    Command Line
    • Much like the Arc prompt and AML, ArcPy and
    Python give us a powerful analysis and scripting
    method.
    • ArcPy builds on the commands we learned 15
    years ago.
    • ArcPy is integrated in ArcMap
    • Python can be extended to other GIS platforms
    such as QGIS.

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  67. Python Scripting

    in ArcGIS
    arcpy.Clip_analysis(soils.shp, studbndy.shp, stdysoil)
    clip soils studbndy stdysoil

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  68. Python Scripting With
    ArcPy
    import  arcpy  
    from  arcpy  import  env  
    env.workspace  =  "c:/workspace"  
    #  variables

    in_features  =  "soils.shp"  
    clip_features  =  "study_boundary.shp"  
    out_feature_class  =  "c:/workspace/output/study_area_soils.shp"  
    xy_tolerance  =  ""  
    #  Execute  Clip  
    arcpy.Clip_analysis(in_features,  clip_features,

    out_feature_class,  xy_tolerance)

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  69. Python Scripting With
    ArcPy
    import  arcpy  
    from  arcpy  import  env  
    env.workspace  =  "c:/workspace"  
    #  variables

    in_features  =  "soils.shp"  
    clip_features  =  "study_boundary.shp"  
    out_feature_class  =  "c:/workspace/output/study_area_soils.shp"  
    xy_tolerance  =  ""  
    #  Execute  Clip  
    arcpy.Clip_analysis(in_features,  clip_features,

    out_feature_class,  xy_tolerance)

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  70. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwarby/2989238425/
    Python

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  71. Export to KML
    import  arcpy  
    arcpy.CheckOutExtension(“3D”)  
    env.workspace  =  "c:/workspace"  
    #  variables

    in_feature  =  "c:/data/TIGER2009/04/ARIZONA/tl_2009_04_county.lyr"  
    out_feature  =  "c:/temp/output.kmz"  
    #  Execute  KML  Export  
    arcpy.LayerToKML_conversion(in_feature,  out_feature,1)

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  72. Export to KML
    arcpy.LayerToKML_conversion(input.shp, output.kml, scale)

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  73. Python Libraries

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  74. View Slide

  75. View Slide

  76. View Slide

  77. If you like GIS, you like
    statistics

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  78. If you like GIS, you like
    statistics
    If you like statistics, you like
    baseball

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  79. If you like GIS, you like
    statistics
    If you like statistics, you like
    baseball
    If you like baseball, you
    should root for the 2010 and
    2012 World Series Champion
    San Francisco Giants

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  80. Baseball as an
    Excuse to Program

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  81. View Slide

  82. NYY 95 67 .586 +136
    BAL 93 69 .574 +7
    TAM 90 72 .556 +120
    TOR 73 89 .451 -68
    BOS 69 93 .426 -72
    DET 88 74 .543 +56
    CHS 85 77 .525 +72
    KAN 72 90 .444 -70
    CLE 68 94 .420 -178
    MIN 66 96 .407 -131
    OAK 94 68 .580 +99
    TEX 93 69 .574 +101
    LAA 89 73 .549 +68
    SEA 75 87 .463 -32
    WAS 98 64 .605 +137
    ATL 94 68 .580 +100
    PHI 81 81 .500 +4
    NYM 74 88 .457 -59
    MIA 69 93 .426 -115
    CIN 97 65 .599 +81
    STL 88 74 .543 +117
    MIL 83 79 .512 +43
    PIT 79 83 .488 -23
    CHC 61 101 .377 -146
    HOU 55 107 .340 -211
    SFG 94 68 .580 +69
    LAD 86 76 .531 +40
    ARI 81 81 .500 +46
    SDP 76 86 .469 -59
    COL 64 98 .395 -132

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  84. #!/usr/bin/python  
    from  scipy  import  stats  
    from  pylab  import  *  
    #  Read  in  the  data.  
    mlb  =  loadtxt('mlb.txt',  dtype=[('team',  'S3'),  ('w',  'i'),  ('l',  'i'),  
    ('pct',  'f'),    ('rdiff',  'i')])  
    #  Plot  the  data  with  invisible  points.  
    scatter(mlb['rdiff'],  mlb['w'],  s=0)  
    xlabel('Run  differential')  
    ylabel('Wins')  
    #  Put  team  names  at  the  data  points.  
    for  (t,  w,  rd)  in  zip(mlb['team'],  mlb['w'],  mlb['rdiff']):  
      text(rd,  w,  t,  size=9,  
       
        horizontalalignment='center',  verticalalignment='center')  
               
    #  Perform  the  linear  regression  
    m,  b,  r,  p,  stderr  =  stats.linregress(mlb['rdiff'],  mlb['w'])  
    #  Get  endpoints  of  regression  line  and  plot  it.  
    rdMin  =  min(mlb['rdiff'])  
    wMin  =  m*rdMin  +  b  
    rdMax  =  max(mlb['rdiff'])  
    wMax  =  m*rdMax  +  b  
    plot([rdMin,  rdMax],  [wMin,  wMax])  
    show()

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  85. View Slide

  86. View Slide

  87. Rainbows and Unicorns

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  88. PySAL
    https://geodacenter.asu.edu/pysal

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  89. OpenGeoDa
    • Spatial Data Manipulation
    • Visualization and Queries
    • Mapping
    • Exploratory Data Analysis
    • Spatial Statistics
    https://geodacenter.asu.edu/

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  90. View Slide

  91. The Future for GIS
    Professionals

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  92. So You Want to be a

    Word Processor

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  93. The Future for

    Word Processors

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  94. View Slide

  95. If You...
    • Put points on a map and throw up a scale
    bar
    • Perform geoprocessing without Python or
    Model Builder
    • Have a job description of “Plotter
    Operator”
    • Have no idea what “fuzzy tolerance” is

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  96. You’ll be out of a job

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  97. If You...
    • Embrace Python as your GIS tool of choice.
    • Use Model Builder to automate your work
    flows.
    • Learn new tools such as TileMill/Mapnik/
    PostGIS

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  98. View Slide

  99. History of GIS Professionals
    Photo by Johnson Cameraface - http://flic.kr/p/dwQdSq

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  100. View Slide

  101. View Slide

  102. Rise of the Database

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  103. Rise of the Web

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  104. View Slide

  105. View Slide

  106. View Slide

  107. View Slide

  108. View Slide

  109. View Slide

  110. View Slide

  111. GIS

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  112. GIS Professionals Assimilate
    New Technology

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  113. Technology
    Comes Early
    to GIS

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  114. Don’t Settle Down with
    GIS

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  115. Cutting edge is lots
    of work.

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  116. View Slide

  117. Thanks!
    James Fee
    [email protected]
    @cageyjames
    spatiallyadjusted.com

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  118. Thanks!
    James Fee
    [email protected]
    @cageyjames
    spatiallyadjusted.com

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