Career in Geoinformatics: A Beckoning Field!

Students who complete their graduation in science or engineering stream always have pool full of career options before them. With changing times, upcoming fields and undiscovered domains have started catching students fancy. Therefore, those who wish to stand out from the crowd and explore the realm of the unknown can very well think of making a career in Geoinformatics. Talking about this term, Geoinformatics is basically the science and technology used for tackling geographical and geo science difficulties. Geoinformatics takes into account a lot of industries and government organizations that use spatial data via satellite imagery for various intents. It includes acquisition, analysis and visualization of the received data signals. This field is by and large used for remote sensing satellites. Students who take up a career in Geoinformatics always manage to stay in demand and sell like hot cakes.

In view of the fact that there has been an inverse proportion of demand and supply in the field of remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) in India, Geoinformatics can be pursued as a valuable career option. The increasing demand in geospatial market can work in favour of the students. Given the fact, that the demand for this industry is bound to double up in forthcoming years and it is growing at the rate of 30% per annum, students can pursue it with robust enthusiasm.

Geoinformatics includes fields like:

• Agriculture
• Forestry
• Infrastructure development
• Disaster management
• Irrigation
• Defense
• Traffic management
• National Security
• Climate Change

Professionals can also involve themselves in Development Programs such as:

• Preserving Forests
• Aviation

Career Prospects

Students willing to make a career in Geoinformatics can gain immensely from this job profile. They can go onto become:

• GIS Expert
• GIS Technician
• GIS Environment Analyst
• GIS Engineer
• GIS Business Analyst
• GIS Programmer
• Geo-Spatial Software Engineer

Moreover, they can explore spheres like:

• Military
• Aviation Industry
• Government Organizations
• Non-Government Institutions
• Research Labs
• Planning Commission
• Disaster Mitigation Agencies
• Automobile Industry

Institutions offering Geoinformatics program

Listed below is the list of top institution's teaching this program:

• Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani
  
• Indian Institute of Remote Sensing and Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun
• Indian Institute of Technology(lIT), Kharagpur
• Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
• Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
  
• Space Application Center (SAC), Ahmedabad and New Delhi
• Regional Remote Sensing Application Center (RRSAC), Kharagpur, Dehradun, Jodhpur, Nagpur and Bangalore
• ISRO, Bangalore
• M.D.S. University, Ajmer
• Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University (JNTU), Hyderabad
• National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Balanagar Hyderabad
• Allahabad University, Allahabad, UP
• Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi
• Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR)

Source: Priyanka Wali (Shiksha Team)
Date: 18^th June 2011