Perhaps you already have the fortune of working with GIS/GIT and geodata, and you know what an exciting industry it is, but there is still some work to be done to improve the GIS industry. Therefore, here are my suggestions for elevating the standard even further for future colleagues:
Share
Share your knowledge, especially with new colleagues, students, and interns. Everything you have. “But… won’t I become obsolete and redundant?” No, what will happen is that together, you will become exceptionally skilled, and you will generate insights and value at a whole new level.
Share even more
Publish methods and techniques in appropriate spaces, such as FME workspaces, cartography, scripts for R and Python, SQL, etc. Use platforms like GitHub.
Welcome GIS interns
Offer GIS internships to help students start their careers and teach them all that you know. Make it a paid position, if possible.
Document your work
To assist your future self or a colleague in understanding what the project is about or the decisions that have been made. Add comments to your scripts, FME workspaces etc. What does your colleague need to know about the project to be able to take it over without you being available for questioning?
Provide feedback on errors in geodata
Even organizations with multi-billion-dollar budgets make mistakes sometimes, and there are usually established channels for providing feedback on errors in published datasets. Report all the errors you find. I´ve found that error reports are very welcome and the issues are often fixed rapidly.
Correct your own datasets
Sometimes the impossible happens, and it’s your own organization that has made a mistake. Ensure the quality of your datasets before use/publication and correct all errors. Welcome and act pragmatically on the improvement suggestions you receive. ‘It’s not my responsibility’ stopped being a good argument before the turn of the century.
Support the software you use
Report bugs you encounter and submit improvement suggestions for the programs, e.g. https://github.com/qgis/QGIS/issues. Also, consider contributing financially to the tools you use in your work.
Publish open geodata, including metadata
If you work for a public organization – Ensure that you publish open data such as orthophotos, elevation models, addresses, public transport data, base maps and statistics.
If you work as a consultant – Remind your clients to publish datasets as open data.
Use a standard data license – Choose an established license for open data, resist the temptation to opt for ‘My organization’s entirely unique license that is exceedingly unclear and appreciated by no one.’ If you use CC0, you make it easy for users.
8 suggestions for an even better (GIS) world. Anything missing on this list?