EOM April 2005 > GEOTECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Atanas Entchev

Iwork out with a trainer at a local gym. I like James — he knows his stuff and pushes me hard. The other day I asked James what he thought about professional certification. "It is very important," he said. He added that his national certification from the XYZ fitness authority helps him acquire and keep clients like me. James was obviously unaware that I did not know that he held a certification. I liked him for his work.

As I was looking for an accountant recently, I opened the phone book and found several dozen listings for Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). There were no listings for non-certified accountants. I called the CPA closest to my home.

In both of these examples certification had seemingly nothing to do with my selection of services. But maybe it did. Maybe the gym only hired James because of his certification. Maybe non-certified accountants don't even bother to get listed in the phone book because of all the competition from the CPAs? Or maybe all accountants are already certified?

I am leading, of course, to the subject of GIS professional certification, much debated in our industry. A lot of questions have been running through my mind since the launch of the GIS Certification Program, administered through the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI). Questions like: Would you rather trust your GIS project to a GISP (a Certified GIS Professional) than to an acronym-deprived Ms. Jane Doe? Would you pay extra for the GISP's services? How much more? Why? Also: Whom is certification designed for? Whom does it serve — the certified professional, the public, or someone else?

Certification and Branding
These days the word "branding" has a highly commercialized connotation. Interestingly, branding was originally implemented to protect the consumer. For that reason, branding enjoys the protection of the law. However, over the years, branding has "evolved" to a state in which it protects mainly the interests of the brand owner. Branding is now a marketing technique.

Carl Fleischhauer, photographer. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress

I propose that professional certification is not much different from branding. Certification implies recognition by one's peers, which branding does not. But the differences end there. The similarities are more profound, the major one being that both systems seem to exist primarily to promote the sales of services to the public, and to promote the brand itself.

The following analogy needs no explanation:
— certifier . . . certificate holder . . . public
— brand owner . . . brand distributor . . . public
— franchisor . . . franchisee . . . public

Certification and Licensing
I am a planner by education, and hold a national certification from the relevant certifying authority. The certification makes me more recognizable to the lay person, thus generally assisting the public in their selection of professionals (or so the theory goes). The certification does not allow me to practice planning in my home state of New Jersey, though. For that I need a license from the state (as does a barber in order to cut my hair and a plumber in order to fix my drain).

An interesting thing is happening within the planning profession in New Jersey right now. Planning professionals, who have qualified for national certification as part of their Professional Planner (PP) licensing process, choose not to pursue the certification. They only pursue the planning license. In marketing terms, it appears that the value of the certifying brand is eroding.

Which brings me to more questions about our own industry: Is the GISCI certification program trying to fill the state licensing void by creating a national GIS certification system? Do we know how close individual states are to implementing their own programs for licensing GIS professionals? Will those programs interplay with the current GISCI program? Will there be direct credit transfers, for example? With the implementation of state GIS licensing, will the GISP brand gain or lose value over time?

To Certify, or Not to Certify?
GISP has a nice ring to it. I think I will pass, though. Until the day the state begins to regulate my services. Then, if I am not retired, I will apply for a license.

About the Author
Atanas Entchev has worked in GIS for more than 13 years, 11 of which as a consultant. He is currently a senior client manager for Civil Solutions, a New Jersey GIS consulting firm. He can be reached at [email protected].

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