Geomob

In this episode we introduce new co-host Alastair Graham , who wil take the lead on all things Earth Observation here on the Geomob podcast!   Long-time geospatial podcast listeners will of course recognize Alastair from the Scene From Above podcast which he co-hosted for several years. We are delighted to add his experience and insights to the show. We discuss Alastair's background in geospatial...

Recent Geomob Berlin speaker and avid cyclist Dave Whittingham discusses his project Kreuzungen , a service that allows users to upload their GPX tracks and find out which rivers they have crossed. The project started as a fun idea and has now gained popularity amongst Strava users. Dave highlights the importance of open data and open-source tools in making the project possible. Kreuzungen serves...

Shoaib Burq, the founder of GeoBase, discusses his background in geospatial and the development of GeoBase, a geospatial backend as a service. GeoBase aims to provide developers with a powerful and easy-to-use platform for building geospatial applications. The product handles data storage, querying, and other backend services, allowing developers to focus on creating an amazing user experience. Sh...

Phil Cooper, an expert in remote sensing and geospatial data, joins the show to discuss Amazon's cloud services and their impact on the space and satellite sector. He explains the launch of Amazon Location Services, which offers mapping and geospatial capabilities tailored for B2B use cases. Phil also highlights the increasing importance of remote sensing and satellite data, driven by the reduced...

Today's conversation is wide-ranging - taking us through the British electoral system, the distortion of electoral maps, the use of drones in agriculture, the importance of green spaces in cities, and statistical modeling in spatial contexts. The diversity of topics comes about due to our recap of the biggest week days in Geomob history with events in Edinburgh, Leuven (the first Geomob Belgium),...

Lukas Hort, a game designer at Hamburg-based Pipapo Games, discusses their game Map Map, which is all about cartography and mapping. The game involves exploring islands, marking locations on a map, and finding clues to a legendary lost treasure. The target audience includes map fans and cozy gamers who enjoy relaxing gameplay. The game is still in development and will be available on Steam, where...

Steven and Ed discuss #geoweirdness, a series of content "threads" that OpenCage creates on mastodon to engage with their audience and promote their geocoding API. They talk about the challenges of marketing a geocoding API and the need to create content that is interesting and shareable. They discuss the different types of threads, including country-specific threads and threads about specific top...

Ed chats with Steve McLeod, the founder of Feature Upvote , a service that allows customers to suggest and upvote ideas for products. At the recent Geomob Barcelona and Berlin events we used the service to vote for best speaker at Geomob events. They also explore the challenges of gathering feedback, distinguishing between different types of feedback, and overcoming language barriers. Steve shares...

Our conversation covers two recent Geomob events, one in Barcelona and the other in Berlin, with discussions on the talks, speakers, and audience feedback. We then delve into the Amazon geospatial event in London, the new voting system, upcoming Geomob events, and the challenges of managing sponsors. Finally we salute Geomob sponsor Ed Parsons on recently winning the Royal Geographic Society's Pro...

Gala Camacho , organizer of Geomob Edinburgh, joins Ed on the podcast to discuss her experience organizing the event and provide advice for others interested in starting GeoMob in their cities. The first event in Edinburgh was a success, with a diverse range of talks covering technical, artistic, and business topics. Gala emphasizes the importance of creating a relaxed and inclusive atmosphere at...

Sanna Jokela, CEO of Gispo , joins us to discuss a project the company did with UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning, and which was presented at the most recent Geomob Finland in Turku. The project focused on using rainfall data to find optimal school hours in sub-Saharan Africa. Gispo specializes in open source geospatial tools and works with both local and global clients. We...

James Morrison, head pilot and UAS ("Unmanned Aircraft System") lead at Ordnance Survey, discusses the use of drones in mapping and surveying. He shares examples of how drones were used to quickly assess landslips and update mapping in the Isle of Wight, as well as capture data for residential housing developments. James explains the different types of drones used by Ordnance Survey and their capa...

Robin Wilson, maker of the British Placename Mapper , discusses his project and the power and joy of digital geography. The web app allows users to search and explore British place names, revealing fascinating patterns and historical trends. Robin built the tool for fun during a period of free time and was pleasantly surprised by its viral success on social media and Hacker News. He emphasizes the...

Giuseppe Sollazzo, an open data expert and one of the organizers of Open Data Camp 9 , returns to the podcast to discusses the upcoming event and the state of open data. Open Data Camp 9 will take place on July 6th and 7th in Manchester, and is a community event that brings together people interested in data from various angles, including data activists, OpenStreetMap contributors, and public sect...

Carston Hernke, the founder of Honeycomb Maps , and recent Geomob Berlin speaker, shares his journey of building a geospatial data analysis tool using WebAssembly. He discusses the frustration of building geospatial applications that don't meet user needs and the aha moment of discovering the concept of direct manipulation. Carston explains how WebAssembly allows for faster and more responsive geo...

In this week's conversation Ed and Steven recap the recent Geomob London event, including discussing the best speaker contest and potential improvements to the voting process. They mull how to best celebrate the 20th anniversary of OpenStreetMap's founding. Finally the discussion turns to recent developments on their respective projects, including a feature in The New York Times for Mapillary and...

Steven is joined by old friend Sean Wiid to discuss UP42, a geospatial marketplace and platform that connects users with commercial geospatial data sources and processing algorithms. Sean shares his journey in the geospatial industry and explains how UP42 aims to address the complexity and fragmentation in the Earth observation and geospatial industry. They discuss the tasking of satellites, the n...

In this episode Ed interviews Octavio Herrera, the founder of recently-launched AddressHub , an address intelligence API for parcel delivery companies. Octavio discusses the importance of address data and the challenges associated with it. He highlights common mistakes in address data, such as abbreviations, inconsistent formatting, and assumptions about addresses working the same way in different...

Nigel Edmead, of enumanation , joins Steven to discuss the importance of teaching geospatial professionals how to articulate the business benefits of their work. He explains that geospatial professionals need business skills to compete for investment resources and secure funding for geospatial projects. Nigel highlights the need for soft skills, such as communication and marketing, to effectively...

Ed is joined by recent Geomob London speaker James Milner who discusses Terra Draw , a cross-platform, open source map editing tool. He explains the inspiration behind Terra Draw and its use cases, highlighting its differentiation from other mapping tools. James shares the current status of the project and future plans, as well as the open-source nature of Terra Draw and the contributions from the...

Steven's guest this week is Jorge Sanz . They discuss the evolution of open source in the geospatial industry, particularly around the role of larger tech companies like Carto, where Jorge previously worked, and Elastic, where he now works. They delve into the capabilities of Elasticsearch and its use in geospatial applications. The conversation touches on the importance of data privacy and owners...

Ed Freyfogle interviews Jake Cracknell, co-founder and CTO of doorways.ai , a company focused on geocoding and routing for the delivery use case. They discuss the frustration of navigating the last 100 meters of a delivery and the need for efficient routing and parking solutions. Jake explains how doorways.ai provides navigable geocoding, doorway geocoding, and optimized paths that avoid barriers....

Max Lenormand returns to the podcast, this time to join Steven in discussing the emergence of generative AI and its applications in the geospatial field. Max explores the challenges and opportunities of using generative AI in geospatial data analysis and mapping. The conversation delves into the importance of trust and accuracy in geospatial data, as well as the potential impact of AI on historica...

Ed and Steven announce the first ever Geomob Edinburgh (March 26th) and recap recent Geomob events in London, Barcelona, and Berlin. Show notes on the Geomob website , where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Old friend Thierry Gregorius, an executive coach and founder of True Horizon Coaching - and occasional London geomobster - discusses his journey from the geospatial industry to coaching. He highlights the transferable skills developed within the geospatial industry and the challenges faced by professionals transitioning in and out of the industry. Thierry and Ed also explore the impact of AI on th...