Learning is not all about what you get inside the four walls of the classroom or in these weird and challenging times, in front of a computer screen. Sometimes, some of the best lessons can come from the experiences we get from the real world. Hence, I believe that having an internship experience is undoubtedly an essential part of your studies. Through this internship, not only that you will have an opportunity to apply the knowledge you gained while studying, but most importantly, you will be able to learn so much more about how this knowledge can be used and applied in the real world.
A few months ago, I successfully finished a 3-month internship program in a GIS consulting company called Spatial Decisions and I am glad to share some of the things I did and learned along the way.
Spatial Decisions Vietnam (SDVN), established in 2008, is the Vietnam representative office of Spatial Decisions India, an urban and regional design and planning firm founded in New Delhi, India in 1999. Spatial Decisions operates on multiple domains namely urban and regional planning, Geographic Information Systems, information solutions, climate resiliency, sustainable development, disaster risk mitigation, and smart cities. In 2019, Spatial Decisions established its Nepal office to have a better competitive edge in the Asian market.
As a GIS and RS Intern, I worked directly under the supervision of Mr. Charlemagne Losaria, the Deputy Manager of Spatial Decisions Vietnam who is also the primary GIS focal person in their Hanoi office. My main responsibilities include providing technical support to strengthen the GIS Business Development in Vietnam, India, and Nepal market by working closely with the company's GIS and planning experts. Because of the current situation on COVID-19, this internship was done remotely.
Because of my previous experience in GIS business development, my supervisor allowed me to work on their potential projects and proposal tenders. During the first few weeks of my internship, I was tasked to provide a summary of bid documents for GIS projects and to regularly check procurement websites for potential tenders. In some of their bid submissions, I was also asked to provide inputs and review the GIS approach and methodology component especially when it comes to the integration of open-source GIS software. In addition to this, my supervisor would also ask for my assistance in providing an outline of activities for a GIS workshop/seminar for potential clients.
Most of my tasks are focused on creating prototypes for GIS demos using open-source technologies. As a part of this task, I have done intensive research also about available tools and software technologies that can be used to provide a free and open-source GIS solution to potential clients. In the long-term, the company wants to expand their market such that they can cover GIS web application development projects as well using free and open-source GIS technologies especially in the fields of urban planning and smart cities.
To address their needs in developing GIS web applications, I introduced Leaflet JS library to develop a simple web application integrating a static JSON data source. This web map aims to demonstrate basic user interface functions in Leaflet and how to symbolize a feature layer like a choropleth map.
Another prototype I made was a 3D web map viewer showing parcel and land use information of a small portion of a city. To create this, I used the qgis2threejs plugin in QGIS and customize some of the settings to extrude the parcels based on their market value while symbolizing the features based on their land use.
For 3D GIS, I also created a sample 3D model of a building in QGIS. This model shows an overview of the floor plan which can be used to visualize say the status of units in a residential building if they are being rented, vacant, etc. It can then be shared in a 3D web map so it can be viewed by stakeholders easily.
Blender is a powerful open-source tool for 3D city modeling. To demonstrate this, I created a 3D model of a city using Blender GIS plugin. The buildings were also texturized such that a realistic render can be achieved.
Lastly, to finally utilize open-source GIS technology in their future projects, I created a comprehensive documentation on how to set up an integrated GIS environment from desktop to web GIS using QGIS, PostGIS, Geoserver, and Leaflet. SDVN currently has no dedicated server to host them so this documentation will be beneficial to them when they want to create their own or if they want to implement this for their clients.
For them to recreate these prototypes above, I also documented how these can be done using different data and with other possible improvements. These sample web maps were also published in GitHub to make them accessible to potential users.
In my 3-month stint as an intern at SDVN, I learned a lot of things that would be beneficial in my future endeavors. Aside from the technical knowledge I gained from the tasks that my supervisor gave me, I also developed a sense of responsibility especially in managing my time efficiently. Because I was doing this internship part-time while also attending classes at the university, I learned how to distribute my time properly to accomplish my tasks for the internship, and my course works in the university.
Another important lesson I learned that I would like to share is how this internship helped me maintain my productivity amidst the challenging times brought about by this COVID-19 pandemic. For most of us, especially students, the switch to online classes has taken a toll on our motivation and productivity level. However, because of this internship, I got another thing to look forward to when I wake up in the morning aside from the online classes that I must attend.
With this pandemic still going on, it might be difficult for some students to get an internship from GIS institutions. However, looking at the bright side of things, small companies and educational institutions are also still accepting applications now that most works are being done remotely. Companies will not be the ones approaching you so you must find them instead. Start by looking at your connections and reach out to them for possible opportunities. In the end, landing an internship program still largely depends on you. If you are not quite proactive about it, I am afraid it might not be easy to find one.
