Tohru Ohba

Differences in Office Environments and Motives for Certification as GIS Professionals between Public Officials and Private Corporation Employees

Because most spatial data are provided by public agencies in Japan, it is desirable that public officials study continuously new applications for GIS technologies in many fields. This paper examines the differences in office environments and attitudes towards Continuing Professional Development in GIS between public officials and private corporation employees. Five factors are extracted by factor analysis from answers to a questionnaire. The results of Kolmogorov-Smirnov testing and cluster analysis of the factor scores showed that public officials have a lower expectation for high pay if certified as GIS professionals than do private corporation employees. The low motivation by public officials to understand the new applied technologies is of concern.