Exploring the Status of Geospatial Skills within Local Authorities in Zimbabwe

Norman Karimazondo¹

1. Dept. of Educational Technology, Faculty of Science Education, Bindura University of Science Education, Bindura, Zimbabwe.

Correspondence should be addressed to: nkarimazondo@gmail.com.

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.8 , Issue.2 , pp.32-38, Apr-2020

Online published on Apr 30, 2020

Copyright © Norman Karimazondo . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
Some evidence for geospatial skills shortage have been revealed by surveys that were done in developed countries such as New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA). However, most of the reported skills shortage are not sector specific and there is lack of information regarding extent of the geospatial skills shortage and its dimensions. In this study, an online survey was done to explore the scope of the geospatial skills shortage within the local authorities in Zimbabwe. The results of the survey indicate that demand for geospatial skills is very high, but supply is critically low with local authorities facing severe shortages particularly in remote sensing skills. Some of the key drivers behind the current geospatial skills shortage are lack of suitably qualified and experienced graduates, higher education training, awareness regarding geospatial technologies and the related career opportunities. This study recommends the development of clear geospatial graduate pathways for recent graduates wishing to gain initial experience in the geospatial industry and supporting current geospatial staff to obtain skills and recognised geospatial qualifications.

Key-Words / Index Term :
geospatial skills, geospatial technologies, geospatial industry, local authorities, geospatial science, skills shortage

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