Geomob

Ed and Steven take a break from summer break to chime in on some recent geonews. First up they consider the Overture dataset release, then the discussion turns to whether Apple Maps has improved and/or whether Google Maps has worsened.   Enjoy the break everyone and we hope to see you at Geomob events in September. Show notes on the Geomob website , where you can also learn more about Geomob event...

This week the spotlight is on the new Executive Director of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), Rebecca Firth. Chatting with Steven, Rebecca recalls how she got involved with HOT, what the volunteer run organisation has achieved, and what you can expect as she moves forward with her new role. The main goal is to map under mapped places in an area home to a billion people across 94 countries...

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is 19 years old! As the global project completes its ‘teen years’, Ed reflects back on the early days along with OSM veteran Andy Allan. Going back to the early days when there were only 20 streets mapped, Ed and Andy discuss what was and what is to come for OSM in the next twenty years. You’ll hear all about the slow but satisfying process or early virtual mapping days. Whethe...

This week we hear from Akansha Saklani from the World Resources Institute. If you haven’t heard of the WRI before you’re not alone, the program was news to Steven. Listen in as Steven chats with Akansha about the very important work she is doing through the Energy Access Exlorer Program at WRI. Akansha leads the creation of energy access maps that show electrical data in India, and other parts of...

Turning words into maps is no easy feat, but that’s exactly what our guest this week does. Joining Ed for a chat is Dario Raijman of Textomap , an easy map making tool that works with natural text (in many different languages) to instantly create interactive maps. Dario explains how Textomap differs from other map creation websites/apps: there is no need for app or tool downloads and there are sev...

OpenStreetMap is well known by the geospatial community, but does the average person use it? To help answer this question this week Ed welcomes Roman Tsisyk to the podcast. Roman, a co-founder of Organic Maps , the most widely used consumer-facing, OSM-based mapping service. In their discussion, Ed and Roman explain the differences users experience with Google Maps vs OSM and discuss how the two c...

Steven and Ed discuss Florian Ledermann's geospatial Mastodon list before looking back on the recent Geomob events in Tel Aviv and London. Have a great summer everyone.   Show notes on the Geomob website , where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

This week tune in to hear what it’s like to volunteer at MapAction . Steven chats with an old friend: Ant Scott. MapAction is "the bridge which enables geospatial experts and professionals to contribute their services to helps with global humanitarian needs" - a non-profit that partners with organisations all over the world to help prepare and respond to humanitarian emergencies. In this episode S...

This week Ed chats with the winner of the best speaker prize at the April 2023 Geomob Finland . Juha Koponen is the COO of CollectiveCrunch . To put it simply, CollectiveCrunch counts and analyzes the trees in the forest using remote sensing. Juha and his team combine the latest tech in geospatial including earth observation, machine learning, and AI, to assess forestry needs quickly and accuratel...

Joining Ed for an interesting chat this week is Dr. Merve Keskin , a geomatics engineer and cartographer who works for the National Land Survey of Finland and the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute. Merve studies how people use maps with a focus on eye tracking. With the rise of mobile maps and mapping apps there is an assumption that getting around is simpler, but is it? Do the navigation tool...

A catch up episodes with our hosts Ed and Steven.  Ed recounts the second Geomob Berlin ( summary thread ). Steven is already on the ground in Tel Aviv where Ed will soon join him for the June 20th GeomobTLV. In other news OpenCage is again mentoring an OpenStreetMap Google Summer of Code project, while Mappery once again grapples with the technical snafu of publishing to Twitter.  Finally the dis...

This week we spotlight an exciting event: London Data Week . This city wide festival will take place from 3rd to the 9th of July and is meant to bring London’s thriving data community together. It’s also a chance to brainstorm ideas on how to bring useful data to the general public. Joining Steven is Jen Ding of the Alan Turing Institute (and winner of the SplashMap best speaker prize at our April...

Joining Ed this week is co-founder and CEO of Radar, Nick Patrick . Radar is a New York based company that aims to be the go to all-in-one location infrastructure provider. Over the past years they have worked with many consumer brands to create innovative geospatial experiences, and the company is now working on the next generation of foreground/product-centric geofencing use cases, like "in-stor...

This week Steven chats with two member of the team responsible for FOSS4G 2023 , which will be held in Prizren, Kosovo from June 26th to July 2nd. Steven shares his own FOSS4G experience with Besfort Guri and Gresa Neziri ahead of their first ever FOSS4G in Kosovo. The hosts hope to spotlight Kosovo and bring attention to their local geospatial organisations, but they have also assembled an intern...

This week Ed chats with Peter Rushforth from the Maps for HTML project. This is an open source project with accessibility at the centre of their work. With their "lead by example" approach, the community has defined a vocabulary to make maps native elements of the web. Peter is convinced that specifying and implementing accessible maps on the web remains not only possible, but also of huge potenti...

Do you know the difference between GNSS and GPS? This week Ed chats with Xavier Banqué Casanovas from Rokubun. Xavier is a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) expert and the perfect person to explain the importance of precise geolocation. Learn how GNSS has evolved, how it can be used for mass market applications and how accurate it actually is in this weeks episode. For those familiar with...

Joining Ed for a chat this week is the CEO and founder of Hivemapper , Ariel Seidman. A relatively new player to the crowdsourced map community, Hivemapper is mapping the world using custom dashcams built with mapping in mind. In contrast to models like Waze, Hivemapper believes every contributor should be rewarded for their contribution. Drivers earn cryptocurrency (HONEY tokens) as they drive an...

Ed had the pleasure of attending the first Geomob Finand in Helsinki (see the summary thread ), and was then off to London to join Steven for the biggest Geomob London ever ( summary thread ). They recap both events, ponder the skyrocketing price of beer in UK (which means we really could do with some more sponsors), muse briefly on whether London has lost its international technical mojo, and the...

What does it take to make a detailed illustrated map of Melbourne? A lot. On this episode Steven speaks with the self-proclaimed ‘accidental map maker’ Melinda Clarke. This large scale map project began 30 years ago when Melinda was travelling and collecting illustrated maps. When she couldn’t find one for her own town, Melbourne, she decided to make it. Listen in as she explains the journey that...

Joining Ed this week is cartographic technologist and the man behind Protomaps , Brandon Liu. Protomaps is a set of tools for creating and deploying maps, or as Brandon describes it: an open source Google maps. Tune in to learn how Protomaps attempts to simplify map making for some of the more underserved groups including journalists and non-profit organisations. Ed and Brandon discuss the cost an...

In this episode Steven and Ed examine challenge of commercializing geo. They discuss the evolution of Citymapper and Mapbox, and muse about how much money you need burn to create a unicorn. Is it possible in the age of open data and open source, even with a mountain of VC money? And how much can/should companies give back to the open community before jeopardising their own position? Show notes on...

Are you still using Twitter? This week the focus is on Mapstodon , the cartography and geospatial server on Mastodon. Steven chats with spatial data scientist and geographer: Jérémy Garniaux. Jérémy is the man behind Mapstodon, the server created a few months ago when Twitter uncertainty drove all the self-proclaimed geeks to Mastodon. Jérémy and Steven discuss the differences between Twitter and...

Gearing up for the first Geomob Finland on April 13th , this week Ed chats with one of the organisers: Antti Jakobson. Antti has been working with the National Land Survey of Finland for over 30 years. This year he is also leading a new Location Innovation Hub as part of the European Digital Innovation Hub network. Antti fills us in on what you can expect from a Finnish crowd and how it may differ...

This week the focus is on the aftermath of the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Joining Ed for an important chat is Nama Budhathoki , Regional Director of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Teams (HOT) Open Mapping Hub - Asia Pacific. Nama explains what type of help mapping can offer and how mappers across the world can help those struggling in Turkey and Syria today. Learn what it takes for HO...

Ed and Steven catch up following the first Geomob Berlin . Listen in as Ed recalls the most interesting parts of GeomobBER and announces dates for the upcoming Helsinki , London , and Tel Aviv events. Then the discussion turns to what’s new with OpenCage and Mappery. There is new pricing at OpenCage, and an important reminder for anyone using OpenCage: they cannot, never have, and never will provi...