Geomob

Steven and Ed meet for the first time in the new year to discuss upcoming events and significant developments in their respective fields. They delve into OpenCage's move to Berlin and the launch of a new geocoding service, highlighting the challenges of managing data from various sources. The discussion shifts to Foursquare's recent open data release, examining its implications for data quality. T...

After meeting at #geomobNL, Ed Freyfogle welcomes Héctor Ochoa Ortiz, a PhD student and newly elected board member of the OpenStreetMap Foundation to speak on the pod. They discuss Hector's journey into OpenStreetMap, his research on the corporate landscape of open data, and the challenges and opportunities for companies to contribute to OpenStreetMap. The conversation touches on the importance of...

Steven sits down with Luke Seelenbinder, CEO and Founder of Stadia Maps. They share a lively conversation on the different ways technology, society and geo intersect; the evolution of Stadia Maps and some of the inherent challenges to serving maps as a service. The other main topic of conversation is Luke's work on MapLibre, a community-driven open-source map rendering SDK. Expect a deep dive into...

Welcome to the first episode of 2025! Alastair is joined today by two guests, Maddie Grady and Luisa Teixeira from Planet, a leading company in Earth observation. They discuss their backgrounds, the innovative satellite technology used by Planet, and its applications in agriculture and biodiversity conservation. Maddie delves into how satellite-derived land surface temperature can improve agricult...

In the final #geomobpod of the year, our podcast hosts Ed, Steven and Alastair get together to reflect on 2024. They cover it all ranging from highlights, lowlights and ambitions for next year and more! They then turn their attention to the community and how they might grow it, before touching on the joy felt from having conversations with experts in the geospace. All this and more, Happy New Year...

To celebrate the festive season, Steven welcomes back some special guests to reflect on their personal and professional highlights from 2024 in a fun, lively and diverse episode of the pod. Expect book recommendations covering some of the biggest themes in geography, projections on what might be hot in 2025 and much, much more. Enjoy! Show notes on the Geomob website , where you can also learn mor...

In this week's episode of the Geomob Podcast, host Ed Freyfogle meets with Harald Rieber, Co-Founder and CTO at Atlas. Atlas.co is a web-based full-stack mapping company that provides an all-in-one solution that enables map data storage, collaboration and visualisation, focusing on making map-making simple for non-technical people. They focus on the product before moving onto the recent  $2m fundi...

In this episode of the Geomob podcast, Alastair and András Zlinszky delve into the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, exploring its significance as the official data access portal for Sentinel data. András shares insights into the unique features of the platform, including its cloud computing capabilities, tools for data analysis, and the integration of OpenEO for enhanced data processing. The conve...

In this episode of the Geomob podcast, host Steven speaks with Darius Darek Wojcik, a professor of financial geography and author of the Atlas of Finance. They explore the intersection of finance and geography, discussing how historical events, geographical factors, and institutional behaviors shape financial systems. The conversation delves into the significance of financial crises, the evolution...

In this episode, Ed and Steven discuss their recent travels, focusing on the Geomob event in the Netherlands. Topics of focus include the recent growth of Geomob events across Europe, upcoming events, and speaker lineups. The conversation turns to the ways OpenStreetMap has contributed to humanitarian efforts and corporate involvement in mapping. Finally, they explore the future of mapping technol...

In this episode of the Geomob podcast, host Steven welcomes Tom Armitage, a geospatial professional with over 20 years of experience who currently works as a technical writer for MapTiler. The conversation covers Tom's journey in the geospatial field, his passion for cartography, and the innovative services offered by MapTiler, including its mapping API and augmented reality capabilities. Tom disc...

Sean Gorman returns to the podcast to discuss his new startup Zephr, which enhances GPS accuracy using a software-based solution that networks multiple devices. He shares insights on the challenges of GPS in urban environments, the potential applications of Zephr's technology, and the company's collaboration with the Ukrainian military to address GPS jamming issues. Sean also highlights emerging t...

Alastair speaks with Neil Sims, an Earth Observation Scientist at CSIRO (Australia's national sciene agency), about his journey in the field of geospatial science and the importance of Earth observation in managing land degradation. They discuss the complexities of measuring land degradation, the significance of land degradation neutrality, and the role of international cooperation in addressing e...

This episode is sponsored by Bee Maps . Ed and Steven reconvene to discuss recent Geomob events in Berlin and Barcelona, highlighting various talks on AI, geospatial technologies, and community engagement. They also touch on the challenges of event attendance, upcoming events, and the monetization of their podcast. Ed shares a fun new feature from OpenCage: Shipping Forecast sea areas. He also cal...

This episode is sponsored by Bee Maps . Doug Specht, a cultural geographer, joins Steven to discuss the power and limitations of maps in representing complex human experiences, particularly in times of conflict. He highlights the decisions that cartographers make about what to include and what to leave out, and how these choices can shape our understanding of a place or situation. Doug emphasizes...

This episode is sponsored by Bee Maps . Dr. Robin Cole joins Alastair to discuss the application of deep learning to satellite imagery and the growing community in this field. Robin shares his background in optical physics and how he transitioned into remote sensing and deep learning. Deep learning, a specific part of the AI family, uses neural networks to process satellite imagery and has seen si...

Steven and Ed look back on the recent (ept 18th) Geomob London, a celebration of OpenStreetMap's 20th birthday. It was easily the largest, but also possibly the best, Geomob London yet, with a phenomenal turn out. Our hosts discuss the talks, the crowd, the evolution of the project, the diversity of its community, and the impact of technology and AI on mapping. They explore the balance between cor...

Mark Prioleau, Executive Directory of the Overture Maps Foundation, rejoins the podcast to share an update. The conversation covers topics such as the general availability of Overture Maps, the data themes available, accessing the data, the hierarchy of sources for buildings data, and the challenges and improvements of the places data. The episode highlights the importance of cloud-native formats...

Steven is once again joined by old friend and "professional catornerd" Kenneth Field to discuss the question of whether or not every dataset should be turned into a map. They explore the idea that maps are a form of communication and should be used when they are the best tool for conveying information. They discuss the importance of thoughtful map design and the need to consider the audience and p...

Ed welcomes back Joana Simoes (a five-time Geomob speaker!) to discuss the upcoming Geoob Lisbon event, which she co-organizes together with Miguel Marques. They explore the growing geospatial scene in Lisbon, the diverse presentations attendees can expect, and the importance of community engagement in the geospatial field. The conversation encourages listeners to participate and connect with othe...

Alastair is joined by old friend and former colleague Geoff Smith to discuss land cover mapping, focusing on the European products. Geoff explains his background in geospatial and his work on the UK Land Cover Map projects. They discuss the importance of existing land cover datasets like CORINE and the UK Land Cover Map, and how they can be used for localized land cover data. They also delve into...

Ed interviews Jo Walsh , a pioneer of the open data movement, one of the earliest people involved in OpenStreetMap, and co-author of the highly-influential O'Reilly book "Mapping Hacks". They discuss the early days of the open data revolution, the emergence of projects like OpenStreetMap, and the challenges and future of open data. And much more. Show notes on the Geomob website , where you can al...

Ed and Steven catch up on their summer activities. There is now a Geomob page on Ripple.fm a social network focused around podcasts. We encourage all listeners to join the discussion there. Next topic is the recent exodus from Twitter and the emergence of alternative platforms like Mastodon and speciifically BlueSky, where Steven is now also mirroring Mappery content. The conversation concludes wi...

George Porto Ferreira, chair of sponsorship for FOSS4G 2024, joins Steven to discuss the conference taking place in Belém, Brazil from 2nd-8th of December. This year the annual gathering of the open source geospatial community will focus on the environment, and will feature keynote speakers such as Veronica Andreu, Luis Mota, Ariel Antiany, Tom Crowley, Céline Jaquin, and Gilberto Câmara. As alway...

Recent Geomob London speaker (April 2024) Wil Waters discusses the Geospatial Index , a listing of publicly traded geospatial companies he has developed. Wil is host of a new geospatial podcast of the same name. He explains the motivation behind the project and the potential for geospatial practitioners to capture more value from the industry. Wil also explores the idea of creating a publicly trad...