The workload has been a bit heavy these past two weeks, and coupled with my newfound interest in historical politics, I spent two days reading "Selected Works of Mao Zedong." There hasn't been much progress on my thesis-related work, and I haven't updated my blog either. Recently, I've had many discussions with my senior and classmates about employment, which involved our mixed feelings towards our major. While showering, I came up with some new thoughts, so I decided to jot them down.
The interdisciplinary field I am discussing is "Geographic Information Science," and the entire entry on Wikipedia is as follows:
Geographic Information Science (GIScience) or Geoinformatics is an applied science that studies the laws of material flow, energy flow, and human movement within the Earth system, formed by the high integration of a series of modern technologies such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), computer technology, and digital transmission networks, based on the intersection of information science and Earth system science. It was proposed by British-American geographer Michael F. Goodchild in 1992.
The research object of Earth Information Science is the Earth system, and applying information theory, control theory, and systems theory to study the Earth system forms the methodology of Earth Information Science.
Compared to Geographic Information Systems, it focuses more on treating geographic information as a science rather than just a technical implementation. Its main research areas include: distributed computing, cognition of geographic information, interoperability of geographic information, scale, the future of spatial information infrastructure, uncertainty of geographic data, GIS-based analysis, GIS and society, spatial analysis of geographic information systems in the environment, acquisition and integration of spatial data, and more. While Geographic Information Science studies geographic information technology, it also emphasizes the importance of foundational theoretical research that supports the development of geographic information technology.
My relationship with this field can be simply described as one of adjustment and being adjusted. During my undergraduate studies, my superficial understanding of GIS research was largely based on the lengthy description above. I had a great thirst for knowledge regarding spatial data structures and theories related to spatial analysis. After entering graduate studies, due to objective factors such as my adjustment to an engineering degree and professional training direction, I ended up doing more engineering work, which is the so-called application direction of Geographic Information Systems. I have completed some application projects, but I always feel that my skill set has become somewhat odd, leading to doubts about my core competitiveness.
My understanding of core competitiveness is the theoretical knowledge system of my discipline and the relevant technologies I have accumulated during my studies and work, which can meet the requirements of a specific job position and be competitive for a certain role, and that individuals outside my discipline cannot possess this competitiveness in a short period.
The entire knowledge system of Geographic Information Science is quite vast. Compared to its name "Geographic Information Science," I feel that my knowledge trajectory is more accurately described as "Surveying and Mapping" and "Information Science." Although my undergraduate courses included subjects like "Physical Geography" and "Human Geography," my desired research direction, which leans towards technology, has little correlation with them. Instead, "Cartography" and computer-related subjects have become the theoretical and technical foundation of my daily studies and work.
In contrast to the discipline of "Geographic Information Science," what is my core competitiveness?
In terms of "Geography," I have almost forgotten my courses in "Physical Geography," "Human Geography," etc. I have a decent grasp of some GIS software operations and a fair understanding of "Principles of Cartography," but these seem to fall short of the height of core competitiveness. For the only potential core competitive area, "Fundamentals of Cartography," knowledge such as map projections and spatial references does not present barriers to understanding and learning in a short time. Moreover, with the rapid development of open-source technology today, individuals outside the discipline can even create applications without needing to understand these concepts.
In terms of "Information Technology," during my graduate studies, I did manage to grasp some so-called front-end and back-end technology stacks based on engineering needs. However, regarding the maturity of these technologies for production application, my self-assessment is quite pessimistic. Due to tight engineering requirements, I often start with a QUICK START approach and finish with something that can run, leaving little time for more in-depth research, or I lack the theoretical foundation for deeper study. Simply put, my "Information Technology" and "Spatial Information" are largely disconnected.
In today's relatively mature theoretical research of "Geographic Information Science" or "Geographic Information Systems," is there still a necessity for the training program that has cultivated me?
From my perspective, the work I am currently doing could still be completed without my undergraduate studies, as 99% of the tasks can be done without compromise. All the new technologies I have learned come from various Open Source project docs, which makes me feel quite disheartened. If this is achievable, it means that individuals without a background in "Geographic Information Science" can also accomplish it.
I can do it, but I don't do it well. One can imagine the quality of an application that goes from Quick Start to operational. Any software engineering professional, or even anyone coming out of a training program, would likely do better than I do. This raises the question of whether this training program still has a reason to exist.
This forces me to compete with formally trained programmers using my weak foundation in computer science knowledge. Perhaps if I don't do this, I need to have a specialized skill, which is the source of my desire to pursue a PhD.
It seems that the illusion that our major is easier to find work compared to geology or geography comes from the fact that, in this wave of the internet, we have barely and reluctantly mastered some weak and incomplete "brick-moving skills" that can be used in this wave, and nothing more.
Several seniors have already joined internet companies, using the same self-taught skills to win the competition mentioned above, doing work that is no longer related to our major. Unfortunately, I lack the confidence to compete with them successfully.
"Geographic Information Science" may no longer be a suitable learning path for undergraduates. Let those theoretical studies be conducted by PhDs. If the goal is merely to cultivate application talents for "Geographic Information Systems," then it is unnecessary, as students from software engineering programs can already fully meet the requirements.