{"id":396412,"date":"2022-01-05T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-05T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uat.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/?post_type=blog&p=396412"},"modified":"2025-04-07T22:19:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T22:19:34","slug":"shifting-to-modern-gis","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/shifting-to-modern-gis","title":{"rendered":"Teaching (and research using) GIS\u2014Shifting to Modern GIS"},"content":{"rendered":"

From magnetic tape to mobile apps, geographic information system (GIS) technology has changed a lot over the course of its 50+ year history. Yet at many institutions, the curriculum and structure of GIS education has not kept pace with these changes. Looking at the skills that are required in the field today, there is clearly a mismatch with the desktop-centric GIS education that is still the foundation of many GIS courses and curriculum.<\/p>\n\n

So, what needs to change? I think it makes sense to start with a story about trees.<\/p>\n\n

It’s all about the trees<\/h2>\n\n

Like most urban areas around the world, the City of Austin, Texas, is dealing with a long list of challenges: equity, climate change, and affordable housing, to name a few.<\/p>\n\n

These challenges come together in a very clear way when one examines the urban canopy in Austin. As in many cities, a correlation between the lack of canopy cover and vulnerable communities becomes apparent using basic GIS. To start addressing the problem, Austin’s GIS team could have created a thematic map indicating the relationship between tree cover and demographic groups, designed a layout, published a PDF, and shared the file on the web.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
We can do better than PDF maps.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Instead, the GIS analysts for the city engaged with the public, crowdsourced data, and built interactive web applications. The team worked with a group of volunteers that drove through the city and recorded temperatures to allow users to view heat islands, canopy, and demographics in one public map. City staff built a Community Tree Priority map, which provides an interactive application for the public to view where tree planting is prioritized based on an equity score. The application incorporates additional datasets from the US Forest Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and others. This is modern GIS, and it’s not just happening in Austin. (Learn more about and explore Austin’s Tree Priority Map<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n

So, what is modern GIS?<\/h2>\n\n

The story above is not about moving from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro; it’s about moving the gravity of GIS from the desktop to the web. Modern GIS is Web GIS.<\/p>\n\n

Mobile, automated, responsive, inter-connected, cloud-based, configurable\u2014these themes need to be an integral part of GIS curriculum and programs. This is GIS in Austin and thousands of other nonprofits, cities, and companies today.<\/p>\n\n

A disconnect exists between a desktop-centric GIS education and the world of GIS that students will encounter when they look for internships or jobs. Students that are exposed to modern GIS concepts and technology will have a huge advantage in the interview process and when they start working.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Modern GIS focus areas<\/h2>\n\n

The following list of focus areas is not meant to be exhaustive but rather to spark discussion and to evolve. The goal is to highlight the skills, themes, and technologies that have not traditionally been a focus in GIS courses and curriculum but should be. These concepts could be introduced as modules, lectures, labs, or as supplementary material:<\/p>\n\n