|
 Printer-Friendly Version
ETA News Release: [04/10/2003]
Contact Name: Elissa
Pruett
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676
Labor Department Calls First Geospatial Technology
Industry Executive Forum in Colorado Springs
Industry and Government to Plan Strategy to Fill Jobs in High Growth
Industry
COLORADO SPRINGS,
Colo.—Industry leaders are looking for workers in jobs so new that
training programs to fill them have not yet been fully developed. In response
to that challenge, Emily Stover DeRocco, head of the U.S. Labor
Department’s Employment and Training Administration, has called the first
Geospatial Technology Industry Executive Forum in Colorado Springs on April
10.
Running from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., the forum coincides with the
19th National Space Symposium at the Broadmoor Hotel, and is
co-sponsored by The Space Foundation.
“The President and Secretary Chao understand how important it is to
give employers the skilled workforce they need, and workers the opportunity to
succeed in good jobs at good pay with a prosperous future,” said DeRocco.
“That’s why this forum is so crucial. It’s an opportunity to
listen to employers, hear what’s needed, and work with them to prepare
workers for this huge emerging wave of jobs in geospatial technology.”
This new information technology field acquires, manages and analyzes
data focusing on the geographic, temporal, and spatial context. It also
includes development and management of related information technology tools,
such as aerial and satellite remote sensing imagery, the Global Positioning
System (GPS), and computerized geographic information systems (GIS).
Events of Sept. 11 and current threats to national security have made
gathering and understanding geospatial data critical for protection of the
infrastructure and basic decision-making. As a result, the geospatial industry
is expected to grow from $3 billion in revenues in 1997 to $21 billion in the
next few years.
“In a period of nationwide economic downturn, the geospatial
industry offers hope. Across the country, tens of thousands of trained workers
are needed to fill positions that are going begging,” said DeRocco.
To ensure that good jobs don’t go unfilled, DeRocco has spearheaded
Secretary Chao’s High Growth Job Training Initiative, built on the premise
that successful workforce development happens when the system is demand-driven
and training programs prepare workers for jobs that employers need to fill.
Hearing directly from industry at this executive forum is the first step in the
initiative’s process.
Before the forum, DeRocco will address approximately 500 college
students who have chosen careers in the science and engineering fields. As a
start to their post-graduate job search, these students have submitted resumes
to companies participating in the National Space Symposium.
Although many science, engineering and aerospace jobs require a
four-year college degree, a two-year degree from a community college or
technical institution or an apprenticeship-type arrangement of on-the-job
training and classroom instruction can prepare workers for well-paying, highly
skilled geospatial technology positions.
# # #
_________________________________________________________________
| 
