Architecture, Engineering, and Related Services [NAICS 5413]

public records will switch to GPS data, a change that would have major implications for the
geospatial workforce and equipment requirements.
Finally, while many GPS technologies are ubiquitous, the federal government does many of its own
surveying and mapping projects using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). However, the government
has prohibited the use of these by the private sector, putting commercial firms at a disadvantage in
government procurement bids and also in the sophistication of data collection technologies. MAPPS,
or the Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors is advocating that private
firms be allowed to use this transformational technology (Palatiello, 2012).
Another area of important development is the telecommunication technologies that allow surveyors
to transmit GIS data from the field to remote servers that aggregate and manage project data. These
technologies allow for faster communication that can be integrated with other web technologies to
provide digital products to clients.
Organizational management technologies will also play a key role in enabling firms to keep track of
documents and data for various projects. A single project may have a whole portfolio of documents
that accompany the information collected in the field. Bing able to manage these documents in an
effective way can make the difference in customer experience, and firms that are better able to do
this maintain the trust of their clients (IBISworld, 2012).
It is clear that information systems play a key role in various aspects of this industry, from data
collection, to data management, to people management and communication.
CONCLUSIONS
In the next ten years, it is likely that technology and workforce challenges will continue to shape the
nature of the Surveying and Mapping industry, but the industry will continue to be indispensable to a
variety of human activity. However, there are a number of obstacles that impede a better
understanding of the scope of these industries: the fracture of the markets, the lack of good data, and
the type of individuals who practice in this industry.
In searching for data regarding the financial details of the surveying and mapping industries (both
geospatial and non-geospatial) it was very difficult to unearth numbers that were up to date and
captured the breadth that these industries represent. While some reports claimed to have reliable
survey and financial disclosure data that gave a reasonable representation of firms operating in this
space (BizMiner, IBISWorld), industry experts assert that such data is rare and incomplete, and in
fact, this is a serious problem that these data-intensive industries face (Palatiello, 2012). The reason
for this is two-fold: first, the diversity of firms that practice geospatial data collection and mapping
services, the insufficient definition of projects and firms that fall into this category, and the nature of
the geospatial professionals.
As mentioned before, there is a wide range of firms that offer surveying and mapping services, and
they often offer those services in conjunction with design, architecture, or engineering services. A
surveying project might be classified as an engineering project; meanwhile an independent surveying
firm will classify all of its projects as surveying projects. Thus, when collecting data regarding the
market of firms providing surveying services, the classification systems often skew the data to
inaccurately reflect generated revenue.
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