The Board of Directors of the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI) has issued the GISCI position on the GIS profession in relation to other geospatial professions. The position states in part:
The GIS Certification Institute contends that state regulation of the many and varied tasks performed by GIS Professionals would be counterproductive. Instead of state regulation, we believe that voluntary certification of GIS professionals with encouragement and support from employers is the best means to promote high education standards, continuing professional development, and ethical practice in our rapidly growing and evolving field. GISCI contends that the practice of surveying should be defined narrowly, and that associated state regulations should be narrow in scope, reflecting the limited footprint of survey practice within the geospatial field.
The full position statement can be found on the GISCI website at http://www.gisci.org/PDFs/GISCI_position_GIS_profession_final.pdf.
This position was approved unanimously by the Board of Directors. It was also reviewed and approved by all five of the GISCI member organizations: the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA), the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC), the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS), and the Urban and Regional Systems Association (URISA).