PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
September 2019
621
SECTOR
INSIGHT:
.
com
E
ducation
and
P
rofessional
D
evelopment
in
the
G
eospatial
I
nformation
S
cience
and
T
echnology
C
ommunity
Michael Zoltek, Senior Project Manager, Woolpert
Licensing, Certification and New Technologies
It is a challenge in the current environment of fast-paced
technological advancement to ensure those providing prod-
ucts and services are both capable and qualified to fulfill the
needs of clients and customers. How do users of current and
future technologies choose providers? How do they know that
the product or service they are receiving will have a reason-
able expectation for correctness and completeness? Licensure
and certification have provided traditional paths for demon-
strating knowledge and technical proficiency. “Certification”
has historically been utilized to evaluate and ensure techni-
cal competence, while “licensure” has traditionally been the
mandate of legislation (at both the state and
federal level) premised by the need to “
pro-
tect the public health, safety and welfare
.”
Traditional requirements to become licensed
include a combination of a defined level of for-
mal education, experience (e.g., time), demon-
strated competency in practice (e.g., examples
of past work), references from other licensed
persons and validation by testing.
Licensing has long been a requirement for doc-
tors, lawyers, engineers and land surveyors. As
technologies have advanced, many states have
realized the need to license photogrammetrists,
providers of a variety of geospatial information
(e.g., geographic information systems profes-
sionals, or GISPs) and recently those operating
unmanned aerial systems (UAS), such as pilots
and/or flight planners. As more states enact leg-
islation relating to existing and new geospatial
products and services, it is difficult for practicing
professionals, state and national organizations,
and the public to keep up with changes to ex-
isting rules and regulations and the addition of
new rules and regulations. The American Society
for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (AS-
PRS), as the leading scientific organization rep-
resenting the photogrammetry and remote sensing profession,
provides a resource to readily access this new and changing in-
formation through its published maps and variety of geospatial
mapping products and services
1
. The “Licensure Maps and Reg-
ulations” website
1
shown in Figure 1 gives meta data on State
Surveying Regulations; State Licensure Map for GIS Services,
Lidar and Topographic Products, Georeferenced Imagery and
Authoritative Imagery, respectively, with each state’s metada-
ta on existence of State Regulations, Board Website, Individual
State Regulations and Composite State Regulation Document.
Currently there are twenty-one (21) states that have existing
regulations relating to georeferenced imagery products and ser-
vices, thirty-three (33) that have existing regulations relating
to authoritative imagery products and services, forty-seven (47)
states with regulations relating to topographic mapping-related
products and services, and fifteen (15) states with existing regu-
lations relating to GIS-related products and services.
Figure 1: From the “Licensure Maps and Regulations” in ASPRS Profession Practice Division: The State
Licensure Map—Authoritative Imagery
State Licensure Map - Authoritative Imagery
Disclaimer: This map represents the ASPRS best effort at determining where the specific referenced product
or service (Georeferenced Imagery, Authoritative Imagery, or Topographic Mapping) is addressed by individual
state regulations relating to Surveying & Mapping. This map is not meant to be an interpretation of said
regulations. Before providing geospatial mapping services in any State, practitioners should perform the
appropriate research necessary to make a proper determination of which licensing requirements apply to the
specific type of work that will be performed.
Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing
Vol. 85, No. 9, September 2019, pp. 621–622.
0099-1112/19/621–621
© 2019 American Society for Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing
doi: 10.14358/PERS.85.9.621
