The certification is designed to tailor data science training with community and workforce needs.
When Chaminade University introduced its Data Science & Analytics degree in 2018, the University became among the first in the nation to offer such a curriculum at the undergraduate level.
Today, in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Pacific Intelligence Innovation Initiative (P3I) and Chaminade University’s United Nations CIFAL Honolulu Center for Sustainability, the University offers various sought-after certificates in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which are accredited by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the NSF.
“GIS leads to a very desirable skill set with applications relevant to the Department of Defense sector and defense contractors, and nonprofits and agencies working in agriculture, on sustainability and resilience,” said Dr. Helen Turner, Biology Professor and Principal Investigator for Chaminade’s NSF Alliance Supporting Pacific Impact through Computational Excellence (ALL-SPICE) program.
“It also has applications in public health (geospatial mapping of outbreaks, provider and resource allocation, and health disparities and inequities), and policy and planning (State and Federal planning efforts in transportation, housing, natural resource management and disaster/emergency management.”
According to P3I co-chair Jason Chung, the company’s mission is about developing careers for the people of Hawaii, allowing island residents to work, live and stay in Hawaii.
It’s also about building a more resilient economy through diversification, and creating opportunities for the growing demand for information technology, cybersecurity, data science and intelligence professionals within Hawaii’s defense sector—the second leading economic driver in the state.
Prior to interning with P3I, Kawailani Luat ’23 was resigned to the fact that she would have to leave her home state to find a job in her field of data science that would pay her a decent wage.
However, the experience with P3I changed her mind, opening her eyes to the many potentials, locally, where she can focus her career toward.
Now working as a data analyst with Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII)—an all-domain defense and technologies partner, recognized worldwide as America’s largest shipbuilder—the Mililani native credits her internship with P3I as leading to this opportunity of a lifetime.
“By providing opportunities locally, I could stay in Hawaii, and I know a lot of local kids who want to stay home,” Luat said. “Without P3I, I would not have the career that I have today.”
Managed by the Hawaii Defense Alliance (HDA) and supported by Hawaii congressional delegates, P3I is committed to supporting economic development in Hawaii by creating jobs and opportunities for Hawaii’s students, businesses and military.
“P3I connects individuals to educational and certificate programs, and internships, to prepare them with the experience and skill sets needed to succeed in these high-paying careers,” Chung said. “P3I is a collaboration with public, private and academic institutions across the state.”
Over the past five decades, geographic information systems have transformed from a simple concept into a sophisticated science. This remarkable evolution, from a basic tool to a powerful platform for comprehending and planning our world, is one of the fastest growing—and highly consequential—technological tools.
GIS, by definition, is exclusively used to refer to a particular kind of geospatial technology that stores geographic information in layers and integrates that data with software programs.
These software programs can then create, store, manipulate, analyze and even visualize the data for further use. Conversely, geospatial studies and practices set themselves apart with three unique practices: a particular focus on the management, analysis and representation of geographic data.
These elements create the three essential levels of geospatial practice:
- Data management naturally includes acquiring, cleaning and integrating data into a system.
- Data analysis refers to choropleth mapping, overlay and spatial query.
- Data representation refers to producing representational maps, charts and graphs of geographic information.
“While data science analytics and visualization has been around for 15 to 20 years, it was only a decade ago that it really impacted higher education,” said Dr. Lance Askildson, Chaminade’s Provost and Senior Vice President, during a Hawaii Defense Alliance-hosted webinar about geospatial analytics careers and workforce development.
“From my perspective, I can see that we’re reaching a point where there’s so much data to disaggregate that we’re having to develop new tools, new methodologies and new credentialing pathways for professionals to make sense of it.”
In response, universities, like Chaminade, are fulfilling this niche demand by offering comprehensive curricula that blend theoretical knowledge with practical skills gained through experiential internships. Also a panel member of the geospatial analytics career webinar, Data Science Professor, Dr. Mark Speck, addressed the lack of supply of good candidates who are trained in the geospatial field.
“It’s difficult enough to find one person trained in a certain discipline, like geospatial and geospatial intelligence,” Speck said.
“It is even more difficult to try to find more of them on an island. Local contractors can hire people from the mainland, but they have trouble keeping them on island, and it’s also very expensive for them to bring people to Hawaii.
“So, it’s much easier and cheaper for them to train and invest in candidates who are from Hawaii and who are more likely to stay,” Speck added. “One of the focus of HDA is to hire local kids and keep them on island with good-paying jobs.”