The good news is that the majority of Geospatial Solutions readers (and spatial organizations in general) are adopting, implementing, and/or helping to develop OGC standards.

Fresh from its 2005 Federal Programs conference, MAPPS (Management Association of Professional Photogrammetric Surveyors) officials have targeted a series of legislative initiatives in the 109th Congress that range across diverse, but specialized, federal programs related to geospatial technologies.

Demystifying Certification Certification activities are the inevitable result of rapid industry growth. But what opportunities do certification programs afford and who benefits? Nov 1, 2004 By: Rebecca Somers

Certification activities are the inevitable result of rapid industry growth. But what opportunities do certification programs afford and who benefits?

The GIS certification process recently rolled out by URISA and others aims to "recommend a formal system to evaluate the competency of professionals whose primary job responsibility involves the design and use of geographic information systems." But several major argument against GIS certification exist.

Attendees at URISA's Federal Program Summit aired a laundry list of complaints about federal GIS programs. At this month's URISA conference, the group will share a plan it hopes will bring order out of program chaos.

OGC uses the short-hand term "plug and play" to describe its goal of geospatial interoperability, but it's more complicated than that. Exploring the different flavors of interoperability sheds light on the standards and guidelines already available, and where the challenges lie to advancing that goal.

Many GIS professionals and surveyors over the years have debated about who should be in "responsible charge" of GIS base data. Most state laws are written ambiguously enough that some surveyors have the impression that these data layers and features are their responsibility. This ambiguity has been largely resolved through mutual consensus among the Joint Task Force on NCEES Model Law.

Discussions and activities relating to GIS professional certification have been going on for several years. The initiative that is now generating the most vigorous discussion and reigniting old debates is the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association's GIS Certification proposal. However, the current debate may be distracting us from more important certification considerations.

In March, MAPPS held its annual Federal Programs Conference in Washington DC. THe conference gives association members the opportunity to learn about federal agencies that let geospatial contracts and to bring their concerns to agency managers. Here's a look at what the agencies said.