A national Geospatial Capability Committee exists to promote GIS as a career. Representatives are from local government, the Department of Conservation, Land Information NZ, Universities, Eagle and SIBA.
The committee produces curriculum related geospatial resources for schools, it publishes geospatial career and tertiary course information, promotes and develops GIS courses in universities, runs programmes and seminars, funds scholarships, produces an annual virtual field trip for schools and supports workshops such as “Map my waahi – my place, my story”. A more recent initiative is Geomentors in schools. There has been a steady increase of schools registering for Eagle Technology GIS in Schools programme. Given this, the Geospatial Capability Committee has partnered with Eagle to promote the Geomentors initiative. For more information about Geomentors visit GIS in Schools website.
In 2015, the capabilities committee used social media to reach their target audience and connect with GIS enthusiasts around the globe. We set up a Facebook page, @GROWGISNZ. Managed by Geoff O'Malley (LINZ), we use the page to share information supporting geospatial professionals in their careers, upcoming geosocial events, reusable tools, internship information and much more. With almost 600 followers, the GIS Facebook community is growing.
Visit @GROWGISNZ for GIS news and be an active part of the NZ GIS community.