Interview: Health IT GIS Career Opportunities

Geographic information systems and mapping knowledge provide IT pros with in-demand skills: An interview with Devon Cancilla, Ph.D., dean, business and technology at American Sentinel University,

Tom’s IT Pro: Please define GIS and ArcGIS. How do that relate to each other?

Cancilla: GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems although more recently it has also become known as Geospatial Information Systems.  GIS refers to the software and hardware used to acquire, display and analyze geographic or location-based data and information. 

ArcGIS is a GIS software suite available through ESRI, one of the leading providers of GIS software and services.  Think of ESRI as Microsoft and ArcGIS as Office. Office is a software suite containing the tools for things like word processing, spreadsheet and presentations. ArcGIS provides the geographical equivalent software suite for mapping, visualizing and presenting geospatial information.

Tom’s IT Pro: You say GIS can help health organizations. How exactly? Please provide some specific examples.

Cancilla: It has been said that a vast majority of data has some geospatial element.  That being said, there is an almost endless number of applications that GIS can be used for in healthcare.

A classic and early example of the geospatial nature of data and its application to health is the epidemiological study conducted by John Snow in 1854 to demonstrate the location based nature of cholera in London.  His mapping of drinking well locations relative to the incidence of cholera in specific neighborhoods clearly showed a direct link, allowing the cholera outbreak to be controlled through the closing of specific wells.  

Fast forward to today and add the power of modern software tools and networks and one can clearly see how GIS can help health organizations.  For example, linking Twitter feeds with GIS systems provides an almost real time monitoring network providing location-based context.

For example, these kinds of networks allow healthcare workers to monitor and address outbreaks, such as the flu or mumps that could negatively impact public health.  Observing the movement of the outbreak or the identification of hotspots allows valuable resources to be moved to locations where they may make the greatest impact.  

GIS also allows long term healthcare trends to be observed: For example, linking income levels, location and the prevalence of disease.  This kind of information allows for specific and targeted public health care campaigns to be developed.    

Tom’s IT Pro: Tell use more about GIS degrees. Is that something a current IT pro can earn? Is there often overlap between various types of GIS and IT professionals? And, if not, do they often work together to implement and support GIS technologies and services? And, when they do, how does it work?

Cancilla: GIS degrees tend to fall into two major categories.  The first focuses on GIS applications and the second on GIS development. Although there is overlap, they also represent different skill sets.

For example, people interested in applying the tools of GIS to solve particular problems generally choose applied programs.  That is, programs whose focus is the use of GIS.  Applied programs, in turn, tend to fall into a variety of categories, from urban planning to natural resource management to healthcare and so on.

 GIS programs focused on development are those that build the tools used in GIS.  These are the software developers and technology specialists. 

There are certainly many opportunities for the IT professional to become involved in both the application and development side of GIS and there is ample overlap between GIS and IT.  As the saying goes, you cannot have one without the other. 

Tom’s IT Pro: Do you have numbers regarding the opportunities for GIS pros out there?

Cancilla: The geospatial technology field has been designated a "High Growth Industry" by the U.S. department of Labor. Because the uses for geospatial technology are so widespread and diverse, the market is growing at an annual rate of almost 35 percent, with the commercial subsection of the market expanding at the rate of 100 percent each year, according to the Geospatial Information & Technology Association.

World-wide data collection is expanding at an exponential rate and successful use of business intelligence and analysis using this data is becoming the main differentiator for maintaining a competitive edge. It is generally agreed that location is associated with 80% of data collected.

Geospatial fluency to help better understand the world, identify problems, and provide solutions is in ever increasing demand.

Tom’s IT Pro: Anything else you think IT professionals should be aware of regarding GIS and career opportunities available.

Cancilla: GIS, like every other technology is constantly in flux.  Mobile apps, social networking, and every other change impacting IT is also impacting GIS.  One of the themes of the 2011 ESRI User Conference (TIP: an industry event connecting geospatial technology users with experts in the field) was that of moving from the "professional to the personal." 

That is, making technology once only in the domain of professionals, easily available and easy to use by non-professionals.  ArcGIS online provides an example of this evolution, where tools commonly used in the professional version of ArcGIS are now available online and for free to anyone interested in using GIS tools. 

IT and GIS professionals who can help in this evolution will be in high demand.