The surveying profession is not a dying profession

A W Mir

Surveying which has been even called the foundation of civil engineering profession has been into existence far longer than some of the high tech and highly paid glamorous professions of recent times. Surveying was practiced when Egyptians were building Pyramids.
Demand for surveyors has been increasing with the advancement of technology and invention of new instruments. When photogrammetry became the prime tool of map making and the use of Plane Table diminished, many said that the need for surveyors will decrease and their number will diminish. But the facts are the opposite. The new technology and electronic instruments have indeed increased the efficiency and rate of output of surveyors but it has not reduced their number. The technical schools and universities are producing more surveyors and survey engineers now than they did ever before, yet there are global shortage surveyors. The demand for information about our mother earth and what is on it or immediately below it ever more. It is surveying profession which is providing such information.
GIS and related other information systems, are very powerful tools for planners and decision makers, are the products of surveying profession. The surveying profession is not a dying profession. Instead, it is an evolving profession.