Geomob

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 tutorial videos for OpenCage...

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 number of data providers on the platform, and the importance of analytics-ready data...

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 countries...

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 promote the adoption and uptake of geospatial information...

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 community. He discusses funding and sponsorship, including the support he received from OSGeo UK...

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 ownership, as well as the need for individuals to have an exit strategy from social media platforms...

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 historical mapping and indoor mapping...

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...