Mapping and geodetic are the untapped areas that have huge employment potential for young Saudi job-seekers, said Khalid Rana, a geomatics expert with 30-year experience in the Kingdom. Talking to Saudi Gazette here Monday, Rana said young Saudi graduates or even school dropouts can be trained for lucrative jobs in the private sector where some companies offer salary in the range of SR4,000-10,000. “Fortunately, there are institutes and degree courses available in Saudi universities in cities such as Yanbu and Al-Khobar, where a number of young Saudis can be enrolled and prepared for jobs that are both well-paid and untapped by Saudi nationals,” said Rana. He said geomatics is relatively new as a scientific term. However, the rapid progress, and increased visibility of geomatics since 1990s has been made possible by advances in computer hardware, computer science, and software engineering, as well as airborne and space observation remote sensing technologies. “Being a geomatics specialist with 30 years of experience and manager of geomatics department of a local engineering company, I wish to train Saudi youth both on and off the field,” said Rana. The GIS field is labor intensive and offers great potential both at professional and at technician levels, he said. The growing need of information systems in all spheres of life and business sector would require experienced technicians and professionals, he added. Rana said high school graduates can be trained to become technicians both in data collection and system development at desk. Rana believes the number of Saudis in the private sector engaged in GIS and remote sensing activities is hardly one percent. Rana said he and his professional colleagues were willing to train Saudi youth in order to prepare them for this comparatively new job market. Unemployed Saudi youth, especially school dropouts, could also be encouraged to learn skills required in the job market and become productive citizens, Rana said. __
