GIS Newsletter - July 2024
MicroCenter Gulf
Geographic Information Systems - Esri Bahrain. Engineering & Surveying. IT Business Solutions. #microcentergulf
1.New User Types Provide More ArcGIS Capabilities to Each Access Level
Organizations increasingly rely on GIS as a foundational IT system for mission-critical work. Esri continues to evolve ArcGIS as an enterprise-ready technology platform—available as an Esri-hosted software as a service, as well as a self-hosted geospatial infrastructure—that seamlessly integrates with other IT systems to bring the power of geospatial technology to the enterprise.
With the June 2024 update to ArcGIS Online, Esri updated ArcGIS user types—which provide the primary way to license and securely access the capabilities of ArcGIS—to offer expanded access to those capabilities across desktop, web, and mobile environments. This gives users the support and flexibility they need to work from anywhere, on any device. To simplify the administration process, Esri has included a set of most-used capabilities in each user type role.
Traditionally, users have accessed many ArcGIS capabilities through individual products, apps, and extensions—all with varying levels and forms of licensing, pricing, and entitlements. With Esri’s updated model, users and their teams get more ArcGIS capabilities than ever before at each access level. Rather than licensing multiple products, extensions, and apps, role- based user types provide tailored access to the ArcGIS capabilities that different users across an organization need. This approach delivers roles attuned to every user level, from those needing the lightweight Viewer and Contributor user type capabilities to those who need the most advanced capabilities of the complete ArcGIS system in Professional Plus. This simplified access quickly enables broader collaboration across stakeholders.
?Read on to find out more about the benefits of the updated user types, what they are, how to use them to collaborate among roles in an organization, and how to smoothly transition to them.
Access ArcGIS Capabilities Anywhere
Esri’s updated user types deliver secure, flexible, and expanded access to ArcGIS. Here are the key benefits:
From having access to more capabilities at each role level to streamlining licensing management, the updated user types offer a range of benefits to organizations of all sizes.
Explore Esri’s Updated User Types
User types provide different levels of access to ArcGIS, ensuring that teams can employ the technology to collaborate efficiently and increase the reach of spatial capabilities across an organization. Some users need to map, analyze, and manage data. Other collaborators need to securely view, interact with, and perform basic reviews and editing of data.
?Users who need to map, analyze, and manage data can choose from among the Creator, Professional, and Professional Plus user types. Each user type delivers access to a complete GIS, with more advanced capabilities available at each successive role level. These user types are a common place for users to get started, regardless of whether they’re working in ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Enterprise, or ArcGIS Pro. They offer flexibility as an organization’s needs grow by allowing users to move up to the next level, add on apps and extensions, and incorporate additional user types.
Start mapping, analyzing, and managing data
Enrich enterprise business data with spatial context. Create maps, develop apps, conduct analyses, and manage geospatial data with these user types. At least one of the following user types is required to get started with ArcGIS.
Add collaborators across the organization
Enable more users to leverage the power of ArcGIS securely within your organization with these user types. Additionally, provide access to public viewing of maps and open data.
Organizations can extend the reach of their GIS by giving additional team members roles that allow them to collaborate with internal content. Additionally, organizations can continue to provide public access to maps and open data. The Viewer, Contributor, and Mobile Worker user types support specific internal organizational needs.
?Everything in the Viewer, Contributor, and Mobile Worker user types is included in the Creator, Professional, and Professional Plus user types except location sharing. The Location Sharing user type extension is included with Mobile Worker and can be added onto Creator and higher.
Boost Collaboration Across the Organization
Esri’s updated user types enable more users within an organization to securely leverage the power of ArcGIS. The user types are designed to foster collaboration by enabling users to work together in one unified environment. Here are some examples of how an organization can apply user types to successfully complete tasks and workflows.
A content creator utilizing the Creator user type can design and share interactive maps. With Creator, this user has access to new web editing tools as well as ArcGIS Pro Basic, so they can not only build maps but also share them with stakeholders via ready-to-use apps as part of the company’s decision-making processes. The content creator can share these maps and apps with any organizational stakeholders who have a Viewer user type, and those stakeholders can join a project and view and interact with any related maps.
?A data editor leveraging the Contributor user type is responsible for reviewing and refining data on the web that was collected from the public. But this data editor relies on a cartographer to build interactive data visualizations. To produce these visualizations, the cartographer is assigned the Professional Plus user type, giving them access to ArcGIS Pro Advanced and its extensions. With Contributor, the data editor can view and update the public data entries while the cartographer, with their Professional Plus user type, can create high-end cartography. The organization can then share that map with the public.
?A GIS specialist is assigned the Professional user type, which allows them to create complex data models using ArcGIS Pro Standard. The GIS specialist can then publish the data to ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise and create a web map for field technicians to use in focused field apps. Each technician is assigned a Mobile Worker user type, so they can sign in to the field app, find the web map, and add data collected in the field as needed.
?These real-world examples demonstrate the versatility and effectiveness of the updated user types in ArcGIS. By assigning people to the appropriate user types, organizations can optimize their licensing investments, empower users with the right capabilities, and foster a collaborative work environment that drives success.
Accessing Newly Included Capabilities
?When customers are converted to the updated user types, users will also automatically receive access to the capabilities that are newly included with their user type. This includes apps, user type extensions, and ArcGIS Pro extensions. No action is required from customers to gain access to the newly included capabilities. After the conversion, when viewing the licenses for the organization, administrators will see icons indicating the capabilities that are newly included with each of the updated user types. The table below indicates which capabilities are now included with each user type.
Upgrade for ArcGIS Image for ArcGIS Online Users
Customers that previously purchased the ArcGIS Image user type extension as an add-on to a Creator user type will experience an additional change at the June release. The capabilities that were previously provided through the ArcGIS Image user type extension—image hosting and image analysis—are now split across two user types: Creator and Professional. To ensure that no users experience an unexpected disruption to their capabilities, Esri will automatically upgrade Creator user types with the ArcGIS Image user type extension to the Professional user type. This upgrade will be applied automatically at the June release and will require no immediate action from customers.
Using the Updated User Types
Updated user types for ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise are now available. But what does this mean for current subscriptions, and how can users get started?
ArcGIS Online users can take advantage of the updated user types now. The updated user types became available with the June 2024 update of ArcGIS Online, delivering expanded capabilities and apps to each role.
?Updated user type licenses for ArcGIS Enterprise became available to purchase with the June 2024 update of ArcGIS Online and will be available for use in ArcGIS Enterprise in November 2024 upon upgrading to version 11.4.
?Since ArcGIS Pro can be administered through ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise, the updates will be reflected in their respective releases.
2023 to 2024 ArcGIS User Type Comparison Matrix
Important links:
2.Geoprocessing enhancements in ArcGIS Pro 3.2 for ArcMap users
The transition from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro brought some significant enhancements to geoprocessing, offering a more intuitive, modern, and customizable user interface with 64-bit processing power and more parallel processing capabilities. Since its debut in 2015, ArcGIS Pro has continuously expanded the geoprocessing experience with more tools, increased functionality, and performance improvements. ArcGIS Pro still maintains most of the same tools and similar workflows from ArcMap, meaning you can smoothly transition between applications with a little time and effort.
?It’s important to note that support for ArcMap is set to retire by March 2026, and Mature Support starts in March 2024. As many of you migrate to ArcGIS Pro, you may find there are options or functionality in ArcMap that you miss or need to perform your workflows efficiently. So, we are doing all we can to bridge the gap between the two applications as we encourage you to upgrade to ArcGIS Pro.
By popular demand, we have incorporated a few features new to ArcGIS Pro 3.2 that were available in ArcMap.
Calculate Field support for VB expressions
In ArcGIS Pro 3.2, the Calculate Field tool now supports expressions in VBScript. This feature is helpful for users migrating to ArcGIS Pro who do not want to update their existing field calculator expressions from ArcMap (which uses VBScript as the default expression language).
?On the Calculate Field tool, you can find the VBScript option in the Expression Type parameter drop-down. Further, your ArcMap models and scripts that use VBScript expressions can now be run in ArcGIS Pro 3.2 as-is.
?Even though VBScript is supported, we still encourage you to update your field calculations to Python, Arcade, or SQL expressions for improved performance, functionality, and cross-product support in ArcGIS.
Icons for custom script and model tools
?In ArcMap, geoprocessing tools could be added as buttons to toolbar and menu locations, and you could even assign these buttons custom icons. Then a click of the button would open the tool.
?In ArcGIS Pro, you can customize the Pro user interface with geoprocessing tools. New in ArcGIS Pro 3.2, you can assign custom icons to model and script tool properties, and these icons will display in the following locations:
1.?????? Quick Access Toolbar
2.?????? Analysis tool gallery
3.?????? Ribbon
Different locations you can add custom tools for easy access in ArcGIS Pro.
You can use custom icons if you want to add a finishing touch or branding to your custom tools. Or if you have multiple model and script tools that you want to distinguish easily. This makes it easier than ever to locate your custom tools around the Pro user interface.
?How to assign icons to custom tools
?In the Catalog pane or, new in ArcGIS Pro 3.2, at the top of the Geoprocessing pane’s Toolboxes tab you will find the custom toolboxes that have been added to your project. Complete the following steps to assign an icon to a tool in one of these toolboxes:
?1.?????? Right-Click the a model or tool that is saved to an ArcGIS toolbox (.atbx). NOTE: icons cannot be applied to tools in a legacy toolbox (.tbx) or Python toolbox (.pyt) file.
2.?????? Select Properties to open the tool’s properties window.
3.?????? Click on the default icon to change it.
How to access the custom icon option.
Tip: If you are newly migrating from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro, you can set a Geoprocessing option for ArcGIS Pro to automatically check your script or model tools for compatibility, or use the Analyze Tools for Pro tool to manually check for compatibility.
Improved Keyboard Navigation for Geoprocessing tools
If you prefer to use your keyboard rather than a mouse to navigate through applications, you’ll be pleased that the ArcGIS Pro 3.2 release had some major updates regarding working with keyboard shortcuts. In the geoprocessing framework, we also made our keyboard commands easier to use to speed up your workflows.
On geoprocessing tools, use the Tab key to sequentially navigate through focused parameters. When entering values for a parameter that accepts multiple inputs, you can now use the Enter key to commit the specified value and automatically add another entry ready for you to type in another value, without losing focus of the Geoprocessing pane.
Press the Enter key to input multiple parameter values and Tab to move between parameters.
Summary
We hope that these updates remove more barriers for users who want to migrate from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro. Be sure to check out the documentation page For ArcMap users migrating to ArcGIS Pro to get started. If you are looking for geoprocessing tools or functionality in Pro that are available in ArcMap, you can make a request to the ArcGIS Pro Ideas Community using the Geoprocessing label.
3.Empowering Youth with Geospatial Technology
Role of Universities/ Academic institutions
Academic institutions and Universities are at the forefront of nurturing the next generation of geospatial leaders. Their commitment to providing comprehensive educational programs, hands-on training, and research opportunities is instrumental in shaping the future of this dynamic field.
By offering specialized degrees and certifications in geospatial technologies, these esteemed institutions are equipping students with the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in the rapidly evolving world of geospatial data and analysis. Through cutting-edge curriculum, experienced faculty, and state-of-the-art facilities, they are cultivating a new wave of innovative thinkers and problem-solvers.
Moreover, the strong partnerships between academia and industry further enhance the learning experience, ensuring that students are well-prepared to tackle real-world challenges and contribute to the advancement of geospatial science. This symbiotic relationship is a testament to the shared vision of fostering the next generation of geospatial leaders.
How is the collaboration with MicroCenter Gulf helping institutions/ Universities in this endeavor?
In the dynamic realm of geospatial technologies, collaboration between academia and industry leaders is paramount for preparing students to meet the evolving demands of the workforce. By working hand-in-hand, they are able to prepare the next generation of geospatial professionals to meet the evolving demands of the workforce.
The collaboration facilitates the infusion of industry relevance into Universities’ geospatial curriculum. MicroCenter Gulf’s expertise contributes to the continuous improvement of course content, ensuring that it aligns with the latest advancements and industry requirements. By infusing industry relevance into the geospatial curriculum at universities, this partnership ensures that students are equipped with the knowledge and skills that are truly valued by employers.
MicroCenter Gulf's collaboration with academic institutions and universities extends beyond the classroom, as we recognize the immense value that geospatially skilled graduates bring to the workforce. These students possess a unique blend of technical proficiency and critical thinking, enabling them to tackle complex spatial challenges and deliver innovative solutions.
Through hands-on training, students gain practical exposure to real-world challenges faced by industries leveraging geospatial technologies. This exposure not only supplement theoretical knowledge but also serve as a bridge between academic learning and professional application.
What are the trends you are witnessing in the employability of geospatially skilled students?
?The employability of geospatially skilled students is becoming increasingly valuable in today's job market. With the growing importance of data analysis and mapping technologies in various industries, employers are eagerly seeking individuals who possess the knowledge and expertise in geospatial technologies.
Geospatial skills, which encompass the ability to collect, analyze, and visualize spatial data, are in high demand across a wide range of sectors, including urban planning, environmental management, transportation, public safety, AEC, and business intelligence etc,.
Graduates with a strong background in geospatial sciences are well-positioned to thrive in this rapidly evolving landscape. Their ability to integrate data from multiple sources, create compelling visualizations, and derive meaningful insights has become a highly sought-after asset in today's data-driven economy. Employers recognize the immense value that geospatially skilled individuals bring to their organizations, as they can drive innovation, improve operational efficiency, and enhance decision-making processes.
The diversification of geospatial job opportunities has created a demand for professionals with specialized skills in areas such as Geospatial analysis, GeoAI, Deep Learning, GeoBIM and GIS development etc.
As we look to the future, it's clear that the employability of geospatially skilled students will only continue to grow. The ongoing advancements in geospatial technologies, the increasing importance of data-driven decision- making, and the global need for sustainable solutions all contribute to the rising demand for individuals with geospatial expertise.
This is an exciting time for geospatially skilled students, as they are poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of various industries and contributing to the greater good.
4. Esri Publications
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