The State of Spatial Science in Our Digital World: How the USC Spatial Sciences Institute Positions You for Success

Written by Dr. John P. Wilson, Professor of Sociology and Spatial Sciences and Founding Director of the USC Spatial Sciences Institute

Our world is rapidly evolving as we develop and adopt digital technologies and endeavor to build more sustainable, resilient and liveable communities.

Many of the devices we use utilize geospatial data, and we use this information to inform and guide our everyday lives. Simple examples include using Google Maps to find routes to take us from one location to another and the use of rideshare and accommodation services that gather your locations and connect you with rides and places to stay. These simple and elegant examples have spawned new business models, illustrated by the rise of companies like Airbnb, Lyft and Uber, which have simplified our lives.

These examples are just the tip of the iceberg because geospatial data and insights are needed to build and operate autonomous vehicles, precision agriculture, smart cities and smart grids, among others. All these innovations will be required to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Spatial Sciences: The Current Landscape

What’s more, we live in a world awash with geospatial data nowadays, and the immediate challenges likely involve the construction, refinement and use of geospatial knowledge infrastructures that can support the systems and protocols we currently use, or want to use, to simplify and enrich our lives.

A rapidly growing and evolving suite of geospatial businesses and business units has emerged during the past few decades to serve customer needs. Geospatial World, a large and innovative geospatial communications and consulting services firm based in Noida, India, has published a geospatial industry map that highlights 400 geospatial businesses across the globe and assigns them to one or more of nine geospatial domains and subdomains:

1. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Analytics
1. GIS
2. Location Intelligence
3. Spatial Analytics
4. Map Content
2. Earth Observation
1. Drones and Unoccupied Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
2. Aircraft (Flights)
3. Satellites (Upstream)
4. Satellites (Downstream/Vertical Atmospheric Sounders [VAS])
3. GNSS and Positioning
1. Indoor Positioning
2. Terrestrial Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT, including beacons and eLORAN)
3. PNT Satellites
4. Navigation Systems
5. Augmentation Systems (incl. Correction Systems and Services)
4. Sensors and Scanners (e.g., Light Detection and Ranging [LiDAR], Radio Detection and Ranging [RADAR] and Ground Penetrating Radar [GPR])
5. Frontier Technologies
1. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Deep Learning (DL) and Machine Learning (ML)
2. Cloud
3. Blockchain
4. Internet-of-Things (IoT)
5. Immersive Technologies (e.g., Augmented Reality [AR], Virtual Reality [VR], and Extended Reality [XR])
6. Automation and Robotics
7. Digital Twin
8. Metaverse
6. Infrastructure Analytics and Modeling
1. Building Information Models (BIMs)
2. Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
3. Geotechnical
7. Solutions and Systems Integrators
1. Engineering
2. Business Intelligence
3. Automotive
4. Telecommunications
8. Service Providers
9. Consulting

Some of the firms offering these services will be known to you and many will not. Similarly, some are large firms with multinational reach and others are promising startups working from single locations scattered across the globe.

Taken as a whole, the geospatial industry maps published by Geospatial World point to an elaborate ecosystem in which firms collaborate and compete with one another, and a plethora of job opportunities for those with geospatial aspirations, skills and experience. Similar opportunities can be found in the public and not-for-profit sectors across all levels (e.g., international, national, state, province, county and city) because these sectors both create and use geospatial information and services to serve the people whose lives they touch and support.

Economic Investment in the Spatial Sciences

The National Science Foundation (NSF) in the U.S. made a series of strategic investments in the spatial sciences in the 1980s totaling $10 million. Thirty years later, GIS was used in critical areas such as epidemiology, immigration, regional development and weather forecasting. This is one of the NSF’s most highly leveraged investments, valued at $28 billion and responsible for creating 675,000 jobs by 2010.

This growth has continued, and Geospatial World estimated the broader U.S. geospatial economy, encompassing all related activities and services, at $185 billion in 2023. The U.S. geospatial workforce has also continued to grow and supported 1,080,000 jobs in 2023. The broader socioeconomic benefits of geospatial technology in the U.S. are substantial, estimated between $0.7 and 1.09 trillion given enhanced efficiency, support for sustainable development and the adoption of innovative solutions across multiple sectors of the economy.

The Future of Spatial Sciences Careers

This said, the importance of geospatial data and services will continue to grow in our increasingly automated and digital world. Employment opportunities will likely revolve around geospatial scientists and engineers working side-by-side with both domain specialists (e.g., geologists, hydrologists, planners) and technologists who work with sensors of various kinds and building 3D models (e.g., 3D cities, BIMs and process models) at scale. These digital systems will support life in every corner of the planet and beyond in the years ahead. We will likely build and support 3D models of everything of value on, under and above the Earth’s surface.

The USC Spatial Sciences Institute was created on July 1st, 2010, to help shape the vision of spatial sciences and, most importantly, to create and deliver academic programs that would help young people like you gather the skills and training to start or advance your career as part of the geospatial workforce.

The USC Spatial Sciences Institute

Since 2010, the USC Spatial Sciences Institute is a one-of-a-kind academic unit that has framed the spatial sciences as a horizontal field that could touch all the other verticals (e.g., established academic disciplines like architecture, building science, civil and environmental engineering, computer science, environmental science, geography, landscape architecture, planning and public health).

Given this holistic view of the spatial sciences, we have been able to build many transdisciplinary collaborations where the sum of the parts is greater than the parts themselves. What’s more, we can do this at scale. This past year for example, we graduated 170 students across our undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs. Like their predecessors, many will find employment that leverages geospatial knowledge and data in their everyday work.

By now you might be asking yourself why the spatial sciences are not more prominent across all levels of education.

The answer is two-fold. First, it is important to acknowledge that some of the elements that contribute to the spatial sciences may have been present but referred to by different names in past decades. Second, the spatial sciences, as proposed here, is a bold vision that draws multiple fields and ways of thinking into a single integrated discipline that can capitalize on new ways of thinking and new technologies.

Spatial sciences include one or more of the following:

1. Geography
2. Geodesy and Positioning
3. Cartography and Visualization
4. Remote Sensing
5. Geographic Information Systems

Our programs incorporate all these topics and focus on their modern incarnations and synergies, knowing that the fundamental knowledge gathered from all these fields is bundled together in the geospatial services and solutions we rely on to support the physical and digital worlds wherein we conduct our lives today.

The second unique hallmark of our master’s level programs is that we use a relatively small number of classes to support multiple academic programs with different starting points, pathways and outcomes. By doing this, we can serve students with different backgrounds, skillsets and aspirations.

Some of our students, for example, want to build and support geospatial services (likely focusing on building new geospatial infrastructure), while others may want to take and use existing services to provide clients with actionable insights as consultants. Others still may want to pursue project management or leadership roles. Our programs cover all these possibilities, and each of the programs tilts towards specific outcomes and collaborations with one or more vertical disciplines.

The USC Spatial Sciences Institute currently offers six master’s degree programs and four graduate certificate programs.

Turning next to the graduate certificate programs, these might be attractive to some of you because they involve a smaller commitment (time, expense), offer more tailored training and can count toward one or more of our master’s degree programs if you decide later to deepen your geospatial capabilities and skills.

Key Benefits of the USC Spatial Sciences Institute

We work tirelessly to provide the best learning opportunities for the students in each of our programs. The benefits of our programs are derived from the range and sophistication of the infrastructure we use to support your learning. Many of the programs provide in-person, remote synchronous and remote asynchronous modalities, and we have an experienced team of academic advisors to help students navigate the pathways that best suit their needs and aspirations.

In addition, the individual classes in our programs incorporate experiential learning alongside lectures and discussions that make extensive use of modern, state-of-the-art geospatial technologies.

We also make extensive use of conferences and workshops to augment learning opportunities. For example, our geodesign students participate in Esri’s Geodesign Summit and HSGI students participate in the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation Symposium every year. Further networking opportunities are made possible by the Los Angeles Geospatial Summit that we host on the last each year. We also host the Student and Alumni Reception at the Esri User Conference, which attracts 18,000+ participants.

Last but not least, our programs draw students from nearly every part of the U.S. and further afield (e.g., Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Singapore and South Korea) and our graduates have found geospatial employment or further educational opportunities across a variety of domains throughout the U.S. as well as in other parts of the world, such as Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland.

Why Pursue a Career in the Spatial Sciences?

This is a magical time to be joining the geospatial sector given:

1. The widespread availability and use of geospatial data
2. The rapid adoption and use of cloud computing
3. The development of new spatiotemporal analysis and modeling workflows that take advantage of the trends and the advances made in artificial intelligence

These three elements, taken as a whole, allow us to focus our attention on geospatial knowledge and how it can be invoked and used to find paths that lead to a safer and more sustainable future for all of humanity and the flora and fauna with whom we share the Earth.

Choosing a career, investing in education and training, and choosing where and what level of education and training are big decisions. We hope this introduction to the spatial sciences was beneficial as you explore your opportunities.

Contact Us

To learn more about our programs, you can contact one of our enrollment specialists via phone (213-325-2474) or email (gis@usc.edu) to gather answers for any questions you might have.

Additional Resources

• Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge (edited by John Wilson and accessible via a free and open source living textbook)
• Geospatial Knowledge Infrastructure Readiness Index and Value Proposition in World Economy, Society, and Environment (jointly produced by Geospatial World and the United Nations Statistics Division in 2022)
• Geospatial Knowledge Infrastructure Readiness Index 2025 (authored by Geospatial World)
• Geospatial Professional Network’s Annual Salary Survey (executive summary, full report to be released for purchase in May 2025)
• UK Geospatial Strategy 2030: Unlocking the Power of Location (authored by the Geospatial Commission in 2023)

About USC’s GIS Graduate Programs

The University of Southern California offers a comprehensive selection of online and residential GIS programs. This includes both GIS master’s degrees and GIS graduate certificates. Click on the programs below to learn about our leading geographic information science education.

GIS Master’s Degrees

• Master of Science in Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST) – Online and Residential
• Master’s in Geodesign, Environment and Health – Residential
• Master of Science in Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence – Online and Residential
• Master of Science in Spatial Data Science – Online and Residential
• Master of Science in Spatial Economics and Data Analysis – Online and Residential
• Master of Arts in Global Security Studies – Residential

GIS Graduate Certificates

• Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST) – Online and Residential
• Graduate Certificate in Geospatial Intelligence – Online and Residential
• Graduate Certificate in Geospatial Leadership – Online and Residential
• Graduate Certificate in Remote Sensing for Earth Observation – Online and Residential