Abstract:

One of the main tasks of the higher education programmes is to monitor the sector for which they educate staff. With this monitoring, it is aimed to estimate the requirements of the sector. Because future human resources of the sector are based upon the accuracy and update of this forecast. Education programmes and related curriculums have to be continuously improved and updated according to the scientific and technological developments and the requirements of the sector. This approach composes the basics of the accreditation standards of the European and American accreditation boards and associations which provide a continuously developing quality assurance system in higher education.
The Geodesy and Photogrammetry Engineering Department of Istanbul Technical University graduate engineers to the sector for surveying and mapping. Satellite remote sensing, GPS, GIS and related technologies change the vision and mission of the sector and convert the discipline into a new form under the name of ‘geomatics’. Therefore the geodesy and photogrammetry engineering program and curriculum need a re-configuring process in accordance with this transformation. This process is conducted under a project which is maintained by a departmental commission due to the annual strategical plan of the department since 2006.
The project has aimed to analyze the sector in its global setting and also to determine the implications of current and future market and technology changes for the human resources in the sector. In this context, a public survey questionnaire is prepared and applied to the broad agreement of the industry, several departments of government and universities. Collected data are evaluated; tables and profiles have been developed that characterize the current and forecasted situation. The results are combined and presented in a study report.
During the last decade, the entire nature and structure of the surveying and mapping profession have changed to a conceptual extent in terms of geomatics. Together with an analysis of the science and technology, market and business changes influencing the sector, the report constitutes a basis for effective planning on the curriculum of a Geomatic Engineering programme.

Keywords:

higher education program, curiculum design, sectoral analysis, geomatic engineering.