Minds Behind Maps

Steve Coast is the Founder of OpenStreetMap, one of the most successful open source projects; started in 2004 and now used everywhere from Apple's Maps, Mapbox and even Pokemon Go recently. Steve has worked at places like Microsoft, TomTom, Telenav & Digital Globe.We talk about the future of mapping and Tech in general as well as how Steve thinks maps will disappear.Buckle up this is a long one, but well worth it.I highly recommend you watch this one on YouTube---Episode Sponsor: OpenCageUse OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API. They have a generous Free trial you can sign up to!---About Steve:LinkedInTwitterShownotesOSM timelapse over England from GeofabrikPeter Thiel: Zero to OneMark Zuckerberg on The Joe Rogan ExperienceNavalCellular AutomatonRule 110 (not 238 as I eluded to)John BoydThe book of OSMStephen WolframNeal Stephenson: The Diamond AgeJames Dyson: Invention: A LifeThe 48 Laws of PowerJonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard BachPodcast Recommendation: EconTalkBook Recommendation: Travels by Michael CrichtonTimestamps03:47 - Conversation begins, Steve Describes Himself 06:30 -Why Does Steve think he's Good at Predicting Trends 12:22 - Steve's Predictions for the Future of Maps 21:36 - Maps will Disappear 26:46 - Incentives for a Location Based Social Media 33:26 - Steve's Detachment to Maps 38:17 - Past Achievements as Mental Frameworks 50:37 - The Start of OpenStreepMap 59:33 - Why Did OpenStreetMap work (and not other projects)? 01:04:44 - Simplicity Over Anything Else 01:17:05 - How does one build Simple Products? 01:20:35 - The influence of Cellular Automaton 01:25:18 - Pushing One's Self to Think Outside the Box 01:32:53 - Steve's Understanding of Maps when he started OSM 01:36:38 - Everything is Illegal, Except Tech 01:52:40 - Steve's Current Interests 01:58:00 - Crypto, Why it's At Least Worth Paying Attention To 02:03:22 - Putting Maps on the Blockchain, and Why You'd Even Want to Do That 02:12:13 - The Next Thing that Will Kill OpenStreetMap 02:21:10 - All the Maps are the Same Today, But Don't Need to Be 02:31:28 - Believing (or Not) in Early Projects02:33:38 - Advice for (not Only) Young People 02:44:53 - Steve on Podcasts 02:49:02 - Steve's Book RecommendationsFeel free to reach out! - Website- My Twitter- Podcast Twitter- Previous Newsletter: Why I want to do more interviews in person- Sponsor the Podcast- Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

Muthu Kumar & Aleksander Buczkowski are the Editor-In-Chief & Managing Editor (and creators) of the Geoawesomeness website, which has been running as an independent geospatial media for the past 11 years.More about Muthu & Aleks:Muthu's TwitterMuthu's LinkedInAleks's TwitterAlek's LinkedInAnd of course find more on the Geoawesomeness website--- Episode Sponsor: Element84Dan Pilone’s appearance on the podcast--- Time stamps00:00 - Introduction 02:30 - Muthu & Aleks describing each other 05:40 - What is Geoawesomeness 10:40 - Geoawesomeness's Early Days: 201114:40 - Impacts of Writing 15:45 - Muthu & Aleks’s story of meeting up 22:00 - Choosing Topics to Cover 28:01 - Ambitions & Thoughts being a Media Company 32:13 - Going Full Time 39:15 - Making money on the Internet 50:30 - Being Open about Business Models 57:40 - Privacy/ethics of geospatial data 1:07:26 - Finding the Right Partner 1:12:10 - The of social media (TikTok & YouTube) 1:18:45 - Advice for younger people 1:27:20 - Books & Podcasts recommendation ShownotesGeoMundusBooks & Podcast Recommendations:Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver BurkemanPeak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success by Brad StulbergRational Reminder Feel free to reach out! - Website- My Twitter- Podcast Twitter- Previous Newsletter: Why I want to do more interviews in person- Sponsor the Podcast- Edited by Peter Xiong. Find more of his work

Kevin Pomfret is a Space and Spatial Corporate and Transaction Attorney at Williams Mullen and one of the references in terms of Law around spatial data & within the geospatial community more globally. --- Episode Sponsor: Element84Dan Pilone’s appearance on the podcast--- About Kevin: - LinkedIn- Twitter - More about himShownotes: - Geospatial World's Ambassador of the Year - CCPA: California Consumer Privacy Act - GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation- Locus Charter- Github Copilot- Books & Podcasts: - Space Business Podcast - Author: Carlos Ruiz ZafónTimestamps: 00:00 Introduction 02:11 Kevin Presents Himself 06:33 Geosptial Law back in the Early 2000s 09:43 The Satellite Imagery is a Tricky Legal Problem14:24 Law-markers don't yet understand the Nuances of Location Data 17:38 Getting Individual Consent for Location Data doesn't always make sense 20:26 Law is Hard to Get a Grasp Over 26:10 Kevin's Critical view on the Current Focus on Ethics 31:37 The Differences between Ethics & Law 34:17 Why is the Geospatial Community so Focused on Ethics over Law?40:48 The Impact of Covid on Location Data Law 45:42 Location Data Law Issues go Way Beyond Covid 46:56 How Laws get Written 49:35 Getting Laws Changed 53:33 International Dynamics 56:09 Teaching Geospatial Law & Ethics 01:08:29 Book & Podcast RecommendationsFeel free to reach out! - Website- My Twitter- Podcast Twitter- Previous Newsletter: Why I want to do more interviews in person- Sponsor the Podcast

Jeffrey Lewis is a Professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and one of the most influential people in the Open Source Intelligence Community. He is also the host of the "Arms Control Wonk" podcast.--- Episode Sponsor: Element84Dan Pilone’s appearance on the podcast---About Jeffrey:- Twitter- LinkedInShownotes:Dino BrugioniSeeing the Secrets Growing the LeadersHawkEye 360 GPS InterferenceYandex changing the borders on mapsJeffrey’s Tweet announcing the invasion of Ukraine an hour before it happenedJeffrey’s podcast: Arms Control WonkBooks & Podcast Recommendations:The Mapmakers by John Noble WilfordThe Essentials of SAR: A Conceptual View of Synthetic Aperture Radar and Its Remarkable Capabilities by Thomas AgerBBC Witness HistoryTimestamps:00:00 Introduction 02:42 Conversation begins: Jeffrey is an Open Spy 05:05 The appeal of doing Intelligence Analysis in Public 09:36 Jeffrey's OSINT early days: the War in Irak 16:49 An example of 'bad OSINT' 20:49 The Tricky Nature of Confirmation Bias 25:05 How an OSINT Story Starts 28:10 Being Right, or at least Wrong for the Right Reasons 30:30 Reputation in reporting, especially in the Open 35:55 Monitoring for news 39:26 Machine Learning in OSINT 41:37 The Difficult Yet Informative Nature of Synthetic Aperture Radar 47:58 Partnering with Satellite Image Providers 59:22 Satellite images yes, but they're only 1 component 01:06:40 The use of Open Satellite Imagery Data 01:17:55 Teaching OSINT 01:25:07 The ever faster increase in our access to Data 01:29:40 Filtering out the crap 01:33:20 Knowing who to trust: The Ukraine use-case 01:37:43 How Jeffrey's team called out the Russian Invasion 1h before it happened 01:43:21 The power of Companies 01:48:52 Funding & How to Stay Independent 01:52:51 Advocacy 01:59:00 The tools used for OSINT 02:07:48 The Surprising Impact of Ukraine on the Public's View of Nuclear Dissuasion 02:10:54 Nuclear weapons are not fun, like really not 02:14:18 Working with a Community 02:17:37 Jeffrey's podcast: Arms Control Wonk 02:22:51 Books & Podcast RecommendationsFeel free to reach out! - Website- My Twitter- Podcast Twitter- Previous Newsletter: Why I want to do more interviews in person- Sponsor the Podcast

Jean Martin Bauer is the Country Director for the World Food Programme in Haiti, where his job is in simple terms to ensure the population does not run out of food. This conversation focuses on the use of data - specifically satellite imagery & maps - and how it helps feed the country.---Episode Sponsor: Element84Dan Pilone’s appearance on the podcast--- About Jean-Martin: - Twitter- LinkedIn- World Food Programme Shownotes:World Food ProgramHunger MapWFP’s PrismWFP’s Van ProjectFEWS NET: Famine Early Warning System NetworkStanford’s Monica LamJean-Martin Bauer on the Humanitarian AI Today PodcastBooks & Podcasts Recommendations:Masters of the Dew by Jacques Roumain (”Gouverneurs de la rosée” in French)Stuffed And Starved: Markets, Power And The Hidden Battle For The World Food System by Raj PatelHumanitarian AI Today PodcastTime-stamps:- 00:00 Introduction 01:53 Conversation Starts: Jean-Martin presents himself- 03:08 Humanitarian Geography- 10:31 Jean-Martin's current role: WFP's Haiti Director- 16:39 How do we know the food situation in a country?- 21:10 Gathering Data To Understand the Food Situation in a Country- 26:18 Modelling at a Global & Local level- 31:03 Distributing Data is also hard- 32:14 Getting people involved- 35:56 Online Human Rights- 40:34 What New Space means for WFP- 45:21 What's in it for Private Companies to work wit NGOs?- 48:57 Building Trust when Predictions come First from Machine Learning- 52:25 Disruption is Not Always the Goal- 53:32 Financing Collecting Data in the Humanitarian World- 01:01:19 The Role of Data for Jean-Martin's role as Country Director- 01:05:56 Making Hard Decision when Numbers represent real People's Livelihood- 01:09:58 Jean-Martin's Critical Look on the Data Science Community- 01:14:19 Books & Podcast Recommendations- 01:17:16 Outro Please feel free to reach out, I truly do want to hear what you think of this :)- Website- My Twitter- Podcast Twitter- Previous Newsletter: Why I want to do more interviews in person

Indra Den Bakker is the CEO & Co-Founder of Overstory, a company providing vegetation information to electric utility companies about the state of (mostly) trees around power lines by using high resolution satellite imagery. This can lead to prevention of wildfires by finding hazardous vegetation before it falls on a line.--- Episode Sponsor:Element84Dan Pilone’s appearance on the podcast--- About Indra: - Twitter- LinkedIn- OverstoryShownotes: - Kaggle- Planet- Global Forest Watch- Vandersat’s Acquisition by PlanetBook recommendations;- Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation by Paul Hawken- The Overstory by Richard PowersTimestamps: 00:00 - Teaser 00:29 - Introduction 02:18 - Conversation begins, Indra Describes Himself 05:20 - Indra's description of Overstory 08:44 - The Story of Overstory 10:57 - From a Kaggle Competition to Founding a Company 13:54 - Talking to Customers in Early Days 16:58 - Find Product-Market Fit : Why utility companies?19:37 - Finding a Sweet Spot in the Imagery Resolution - Price trade-off 22:02 - Deciding to build a product, not focusing on imagery 28:34 - Bringing in a dedicated designer in an early stage data start-up 30:12 - Finding focus as a company 33:44 - Could Earth Observations Companies ever have millions of customers? 36:13 - Could Overstory get to more consumer facing applications? 39:58 - Failures along the way 42:14 - Moving from bootstrapped to taking investment 44:31 - Staying on the Mission while raising money & losing control 47:49 - Preventing Green-washing 53:20 - What does Indra do today? 55:42 - The transition from Data Scientist to CEO 58:56 - Does a Data Scientist background help as a Leader? 01:00:14 - Hiring 01:04:12 - Deciding to become a Remote First Company 01:07:20 - Building a start-up in a post-covid recession 01:11:15 - A supermarket analogy to the Earth Observation industry 01:15:57 - Is Indra worried of data providers eating into downstream company's business? 01:18:20 - Balancing exits strategies with keeping on a Mission 01:19:51 - Newly public space start-ups are going down in valuation 01:23:45 - What is Overstory's current main challenge? 01:25:44 - Dealing with number of employee growth: Not knowing what everyone does anymore 01:34:00 - Book & Podcast recommendations01:35:48 - Having the same company name as bookPlease feel free to reach out, I truly do want to hear what you think of this :) - Website: https://mindsbehindmaps.com/- My Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaxLenormand- Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/MindsBehindMaps- Previous Newsletter: Why I want to do more interviews in person

Dr Catherine Nakalembe is an Associate Research Professor at University of Maryland and the Program Head of NASA Harvest Africa. We talk about some of her work on using satellite imagery for Food Security in her home country of Uganda & how she got into this field in the first place.---Episode Sponsors:Element84Dan Pilone’s appearance on the podcast---About Catherine:TwitterLinkedInWebsiteShownotes:- NASA Harvest- Catherine’s Bio on University of Maryland’s websiteBooks & Recommendations:- The New Humanitarian- BBC Discovery- Africa Today- Little Stories for Tiny People- Catherine’s appearances on Science in Action- Leadership Journey- The Divide by Jason Hickel- Jason Hickel’s Twitter Time-stamps: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:04 Conversation begins: Catherine describes herself 00:08:19 Starting by wanting to play badminton 00:20:45 Wanting to work back in Uganda 00:24:32 How Catherine got into Food Security 00:32:15 What even is Food Security? 00:34:14 The Role of Remote Sensing in Food Security 00:37:58 Who benefits mapping food security? 00:44:23 How do people on the ground perceive insights from satellites? 00:48:54 Creating insights that actually get used 00:52:43 You can't improve what you can't measure 00:55:41 The Double-Edge Sword that comes with Remote Sensing at Scale 01:00:52 Not getting lost in the Maps 01:03:32 Incentives: Working from a University in the US, helping Uganda 01:10:40 The relationship between Private & Public sector in regards to Climate Change 01:13:13 The Government as the main Private Sector's Government 01:20:10 Story Telling as a Source of Change 01:27:02 Inspiring & Helping Others 01:30:53 Books & Podcast recommendations If you want to hear more about me & the podcast:My TwitterFor news about the podcastWebsite

Emily Darling & Kim Fisher both work at the Wildlife Conservation Society, respectively as the Director of Coral Reef & as Spatial Analyst. They have developed MERMAID, a platform enabling coral reef scientists to aggregate & share their data together. One of the main challenges they tackle being most measurements need to happen in the field as opposed to being able to leverage satellite imagery. ---Episode Sponsors:Radiant Earth Foundation: Apply for the 2022 Radiant MLHub Impact Award for agriculture-related applications for Africa - with a $5,000 cash prize.Element84Dan Pilone’s appearance on the podcast---About Emily:LinkedInTwitterAbout Kim:LinkedInTwitterWorld Conservation SocietyShownotesMERMAIDWildlife Conservation SocietyAllen Coras AtlasSparkGeoBooks & Podcast Recomendations:We can do hard thingsWhere should we beginSong ExploderData Feminism: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/data-feminismHere GOES RadiotelescopeMannahatta/Welikia:book: https://www.amazon.com/Mannahatta-Natural-History-York-City/dp/1419707485/website: https://welikia.org/Timestamps00:00 - Introduction03:07 - Kim & Emily presenting themselves07:49 - Computer Science & Data at the service of Science17:30 - A symbiotic relationship Software Engineering & Marine Biology23:38 - High level overview of what MERMAID is26:52 - What problem does MERMAID solve?32:28 - Getting traction on a scientific tool37:37 - Stories on top of the data46:00 - Another simple question: Why is coral reef important?49:55 - Working with Policy Makers55:28 - Coral Reef is still measured with pen & paper1:01:55 - Partnering with SparkGeo, a geospatial consultancy1:10:54 - Thinking about projects over the long term1:12:45 - Financing a Non-Profit project1:19:40 - Transparency in Non-Profits through Open-Source1:25:45 - The impact of Data Science on Emily’s work1:29:01 - Book & Podcast RecommendationsFeel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastWebsite

Arjen Vrielink is the Director & co-founder of Satelligence, dedicated to stopping deforestation by leveraging satellite imagery. They work directly with commodity companies who sell things like cacao or coffee to understand the causes of deforestation and how alternatives can be found.About Arjen:TwitterLinkedInSatelligence---Episode Sponsors:Radiant Earth Foundation: Apply for the 2022 Radiant MLHub Impact Award for agriculture-related applications for Africa - with a $5,000 cash prize.Element84Dan Pilone’s appearance on the podcast---Shownotes:Zero to One by Peter ThielKate Raworth’s Doughnut EconomicsPlanet Acquiring VandersatRange by David EpsteinSteve BallmerUp and Down the Ladder of Abstraction by Bret Victorxkcd: Adjective FoodsSuperforecasting by Philip E. Tetlock, Dan GardnerBook recommendations:Man’s Fate (La Condition Humaine) by André MalrauxThe Stranger (L’Etranger) by Albert CamusThe Plague (La Peste) by Albert CamusThe Mandarins by Simone de BeauvoirTimestamps:00:00 - Introduction02:55 - Conversation Begins07:56 - Arjen quoting me to describe work environment13:02 - The origin story of Satelligence17:45 - What Satelligence does19:05 - Remote Sensing to solve deforestation: Solution looking for a Problem?26:48 - Data comes in to convince bosses34:38 - Financial incentives & shareholders40:27 - How Satelligence makes money & long term vision45:02 - Why Satelligence decided to raise a first round after a few years51:25 - Downsides to raising55:14 - What happens to the mission after an exit?59:30 - Creating a work culture1:03:43 - Lunch is more important for your culture than your Strategy day1:13:17 - Hiring1:17:47 - Why Arjen hired me as an intern1:29:48 - Open Source in Geospatial1:42:28 - Importance of technical knowledge in leadership roles1:44:36 - Layers of Abstraction1:51:16 - Committing to one specific thing1:57:18 - Why maps aren’t (always) the best way to communicate insights2:06:43 - Geospatial is incredibly niche2:12:57 - Book recommendations2:21:15 - Asking for adviceFeel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastWebsite

Barbara Ryan was instrumental in the policy change in 2008 that opened up the Landsat data to being freely & openly available for anyone to access. This resulted in more than 100x uptake in the number of imagery downloaded and fundamentally changed the Earth Observation industry.She is currently the Executive Director of the World Geospatial Industry Council---Episode Sponsors:Radiant Earth Foundation: Apply for the 2022 Radiant MLHub Impact Award for agriculture-related applications for Africa - with a $5,000 cash prize.Element84Dan Pilone’s appearance on the podcast---About Barbara:TwitterLinkedIn Shownotes:We recorded this interview while Barbara was in Amsterdam for the Geospatial World ForumLandsat policy change documentGilberto Camara at the time Chief of INPE: Brazilian National Institute for Space ResearchMark Mayers, former Director of USGSWorld Geospatial Industry CouncilGEO: Group on Earth Observations: the organization, not the field ;-)Books recommendations:Ender’s Game by Orson Scott CardSnow Crash by Neal StephensonTimestamps:00:00 - Introduction02:56 - Importance of in-person conversation05:52 - Connecting people08:00 - Reaching people beyond languages10:43 - Landsat pre-2008: before it was free & open19:09 - Impact of the giving the data away for free21:51 - Details on the policy change: push-backs & financial incentives28:43 - The direct impact on the USGS30:39 - International collaboration32:32 - Domino Effect: The impact of Landsat on offer Open Data Policies36:02 - Potential unexpected negative effects37:41 - The scale of the impact opening up Landsat had41:13 - Don’t use data as your transactional currency44:14 - Making satellite imagery accessible beyond the data52:00 - Distributing data as easily as possible57:07 - Spicy politics story involving the Secretary of Interior1:04:21 - Open Data should not be taken for granted1:11:31 - Thoughts on Commercial Earth Observation1:14:16 - Open Data Policies for Commercial EO: Parallels with the Gaming Industry1:23:18 - Improving Communications in Science1:28:41 - Earth Observation could learn to tell stories from the Gaming Industry1:34:21: Barbara’s current role1:39:04 - Being better ambassadors of Geospatial1:42:32 - WGIC’s funding model1:45:36: - Barbara retiring only to come back multiple times1:51:12 - Book recommendations1:53:21 - Advice for younger people Feel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastWebsite

Jonathan Lacoste is an Investor at Space.VC, a Venture Capital firm he started in 2021 after having founded & sold Jebbit (a company focused on aggregating & analyzing user data online for businesses for advertising).We talk about how his experience at Jebbit translates to the Earth Observation industry, why he moved from founding to investing and the learning-in-public approach he's taking. —Episode Sponsors:Radiant Earth Foundation: Apply for the 2022 Radiant MLHub Impact Award for agriculture-related applications for Africa - with a $5,000 cash prize.Element84Dan Pilone’s appearance on the podcast—About Jonathan:TwitterLinkedInSpace.VCShownotes:Tomorrow.io“Why I’m starting a space fund”: Jonathan’s blog post on his decision to start Space.VCPixxelPrevious episode with Jeff Crusey, another Venture Capitalist in the space industrySettlers of CatanBooks & Podcast recommendations:All In PodcastAcquired PodcastSmartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success by Shane SnowWhen Jesus Came to Harvard: Making Moral Choices Today by Harvey CoxTimestamps:00:00 - Introduction02:45 - Episode starts, Jonathan presents himself05:25 - Jonathan’s first experience: 10 years of Jebbit08:50 - Finding a problem in the industry12:10- Coming to a problem with a Beginner’s Mind14:45 - Keeping a Beginner’s Mindset16:50 - Choosing what to do after Jebbit22:10 - Transferable & valuable skills25:20- The space industry is 1st time founders28:20 - Attracting more founders from outside the space industry31:50 - Making space un-sexy38:15 - How companies market themselves (and to whom)40:55 - Creating a VC fund instead of starting a new company44:00 - Continuing to learn46:25 - Building in public51:50 - Keeping up with new companies & Networking56:25 - Deciding who to invest in59:45 - Why Jonathan decided to invest in Pixxel1:03:45 - Software vs Hardware companies1:08:00 - Disagreeing with respect1:13:35 - Jonathan’s take on the wave of companies going public1:19:35 - Dealing with impostor syndrome1:24:56 - Being wrong1:29:30 - Settlers of Catan1:32:00 - Books & Podcast recommendationsFeel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastWebsite

Jeff Crusey is the Investment Director of Seraphim Space, an investing firm specialised in the space industry. They have invested in mulitple Earth Observation companies including Spire, Iceye, HawkEye 360 and Pixxel.This episode in many ways serves as an introduction to investing - specifically Venture Capital (VC in short) - applied to the world of Earth Observation: How funds are raised, how VCs decided who to invest in and how they do it.—Episode Sponsors:Radiant Earth Foundation: Apply for the 2022 Radiant MLHub Impact Award for agriculture-related applications for Africa - with a $5,000 cash prize.Element84Dan Pilone’s appearance on the podcast—About Jeff:TwitterLinkedInSeraphim Space Shownotes:Ursa SpaceJeff’s tweet having invested in 20+ space companies“Most Microsoft Flight Simulator players flew home in first journey”Books & Podcast recommendationsSam Harris podcast: Making SenseLex Fridman podcastGödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter Time-stamps:00:00 - Introduction04:30 - Conversation starts - Jeff presents himself06:56 - Jeff’s early days08:48 - Climate Tech in 200812:16 - How Jeff got into investing15:12 - Skills that make a good investor18:05 - Venture Capital investing at a high level23:31 - Finding companies to invest in27:58 - Weighing risk before investing28:49 - Investing in the Space industry31:18 - Early projects Jeff invested in in 201232:39 - Investing in Earth Observation36:39 - Data companies & Analytics companies: different models39:05 - A centralized “Search Engine” of geospatial data41:53 - Is Google Earth Engine this centralized search engine?47:12 - Is Earth Observation a giant House of Cards?49:16 - Metaverse: one of potential huge commercial application54:04 - Who would build & own a metaverse55:37 - Monitoring vs Mapping58:20 - Weather doesn’t make it in most people’s “Earth Observation” list1:03:15 - Projects that aren’t suited for Venture Capital1:05:10 - Analytics applications from an investment point of view1:07:33 - Where does the venture money come from?1:10:50 - Investing in long term projects1:13:53 - The exit process1:14:05 - Exists in Earth Observation: Valuations & Bubbles1:19:42 - The impact of Starship1:21:55 - Book & Podcast recommendations Feel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastWebsite

A year ago, I started this podcast, not knowing where it would go. 18 interviews later, I'm more excited than ever to keep doing more of these, and get even better at it. This episode is also on Youtube if you'd like to see the video too Reach out and let me know who you'd like to see on the podcast!- On the website- On Twitter Timestamps:00:00 - Episode also on YouTube00:18 - Introduction00:41 - Quick look back on 1 year02:14 - Future of Minds Behind Maps03:18 - The Goal of this podcast04:22 - Who would you like on the podcast?05:53 - Thanks07:08 - Working with Sponsors09:16 - Conclusion Thanks for listening!

Jakub Dziwisz is the founder & CEO of Orbify, a company that is attempting to simplify the process of building Earth Observation solutions for any application. —Episode Sponsors:Radiant Earth Foundation: Apply for the 2022 Radiant MLHub Impact Award for agriculture-related applications for Africa - with a $5,000 cash prize.Element84Dan Pilone’s appearance on the podcast—About Jakub:TwitterLinkedInOrbifyShownotes:OrbifyBook & Media recomendation:You’re already listening to the first one ;-)MapscapingThe Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos by Christian DavenportThe Case for Space by Robert Zubrin9 Lies about Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World by Marcus Buckingham, Ashley GoodallTwenty Minute VCTime stamps:00:00 - Introduction02:48 - Episode begins, Jakub presents himself09:40 - Jakub’s first few jobs: Travel Agencies19:10 - Travel Agencies used to look a lot like the Earth Observation industry today21:48 - Jakub’s entry in Earth Observation25:28 - A Shopify analogy to self-service31:30 - Orbify35:40 - Specializing versus Diversifying43:31 - Rethinking User Interfaces45:50 - A SaaS-like business model51:52 - Some of Orbify’s current clients54:50 - Jakub’s point of view coming from outside Earth Observation59:00 - Keeping a fresh eye1:01:27 - How much programming does Jakub still do?1:05:26 - Book & Podcast recommendationFeel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastWebsite

Jacopo Margutti is a Data Scientist at 510, the Data branch of the Netherlands Red Cross which uses remote sensing, ground measured data and insights from social media to understand & react to humanitarian crisis. During this conversation, we touch on the the work the Red Cross does around impact forecasting of typhoons, how they have helped covid vaccine distribution, but also how to work on a tight budget to provide the maximum amount of help. Jacopo talks about the desire to move towards digital aid - sending money digitally - over physical goods and what the undesired consequences of humanitarian aid might be. ---Sponsor of this episode: Element84Ep16: Conversation with Dan Pilone, CEO & co-founder of Element84Element84 website---Jacopo MarguttiLinkedIn Time-stamps:03:07 - Conversation begins, Jacopo presents himself05:30 - Being in the Netherlands Red Cross Offices07:55 - 510: The Data Team of the Netherlands Red Cross09:50 - Example of applications: Natural Disaster Impact Forecasting13:09 - Timeline of work on a Typhoon event17:00 - The 4 Disaster Phases19:15 - Working with satellite imagery providers23:19 - Understanding what people need, not only where24:45 - Insights from the ground compared to remote sensing31:30 - Effective Altruism: Trying to do the most “good”32:45 - Leveraging Social Media data38:35 - Measuring the impact of the Red Cross interventions40:05 - Challenges of working with data in help of far away locations43:08 - Longer Term Impact Work: Delivering Digital Aid50:20 - Financial aspect of Humanitarian Aid53:30 - Deciding what to work on, who to help and who not to58:15 - The Importance and Need of Volunteers1:01:20 - Impact of Covid on the Red Cross1:04:19 - Jacopo’s journey, from Particle Physics to the Red Cross1:12:12 - Rounding off, Books & Podcasts Recommendations Shownotes:510: Data Branch of the Netherlands Red CrossBooks & Podcast Recommendations:Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems by Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther DufloHidden Brain by NPRVolunteer to 510:Through their websiteReach out directly to Jacopo Please feel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastWebsite

Dan Pilone is the CEO and co-founder of Element84, a software engineering company focused on building geospatial solutions at scale. We touch on Dan's experience working on geospatial software engineer problems and how those have changed over the past decade. We discuss the work Element84 has done to contribute to AWS's Open Data program, as well the journey of co-founding a company with Dan's wife Tracey, and how they're thinking of growth through a people-focused mindset.---Find previous episodes and other show notes at mindsbehindmaps.comIf you'd like to help support the podcast, please consider leaving a review directly on the website, or on Apple Podcast. This helps showcase the value of the podcast when reaching out to new potential guests. ---About Dan:LinkedInTwitterElement84 website Time-stamps:03:16 - Conversation starts, Dan present himself07:03 - Presenting Element8409:33 - Element84’s early days - Moving towards geospatial over time12:16 - Problems change over time16:15 - Scale changes too20:48 - Contributing to Amazon’s Open Data Registry26:16 - Making Sentinel data more accessible34:30 - Getting nerdy: What do Dask & Xarray mean for the future of geospatial data processing40:16 - Moving towards more layers of abstraction41:52 - Business model behind different open data contributions45:11 - A game theory approach to Open Source50:28 - The Openness of Geospatial compared to other fields56:16 - Co-founding a company as a couple1:04:21 - Preventing people “careering out” of the company1:11:19 - People-focus growth1:16:58 - Element84’s hiring process1:21:14 - Changing culture as the company grows1:27:54 - How Dan’s role has changed over the years1:30:47 - The relevance (or not) of keeping a foot in the code as a CEO1:33:29 - Opportunity cost from Dan’s point of view1:36:34 - Book & podcast recommendations Show notes:Earth SearchBook & podcast recommendation:Great game of business Unlocking the Power and Profitability of Open-Book Management by Jack Stack, Bo BurlinghamDear White Friend: The Realities of Race, the Power of Relationships and Our Path to Equity by Melvin J. Gravely IIFour Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver BurkemanManager Tools podcastTugboat GroupInterview with Dan & his wife Tracey on co-founding Element84 together Please feel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastWebsite

April Speight leads the Spatial Computing Cloud Advocacy team at Microsoft. This team focuses on helping developers understand technology & raise awareness, mostly with the Mixed Reality team, most famous for the HoloLens.We talk about April's work at Microsoft, but also about her journey from the the fashion industry, to entering the field of Tech in general. We touch on fashion and branding, and what the Tech world can take away from them. Finally, this is also a conversation about Augmented & Virtual Reality, on the privacy aspects of these technology and how they go hand in hand with technical literacy & education. ---Find previous episodes and other show notes at mindsbehindmaps.comIf you'd like to help support the podcast, please consider leaving a review directly on the website, or on Apple Podcast. This helps showcase the value of the podcast when reaching out to new potential guests. --- About April:WebsiteTwitterLinkedIn Time stamps:02:37 - Conversation begins, April presents herself6:25 - Aprils’ journey from Fashion to Tech18:22 - Entering the Tech industry with no Tech experience27:25 - Dealing with impostor syndrome30:48 - April’s current role: Spatial Computing Cloud Advocacy Lead at Microsoft33:27 - Defining Mixed Reality35:02 - The impact of covid on the public’s perception of Augmented & Virtual Reality39:02 - Building virtual worlds44:53 - Should we implement limitations on virtual environments?47:02 - Privacy implications in virtual spaces54:47 - How should users & developers think about privacy?1:01:23 - Digital Literacy1:04:52 - What Tech can learn from the fashion industry1:10:12 - The Importance of Branding1:13:35 - Creating content for developers1:18:04 - Media & Book recommendation Shownotes:Microsoft HoloLensMedia Recommendations:Business of FashionUnpacking Fashion’s Latest Waves of NFT SalesThe Little PrinceLingoPie Please feel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastWebsite

Dr Beth Tellman is the Chief Science Officer at Cloud2Street, a company focused on flood monitoring using mostly satellite imagery. They recently published their “Global Flood Database” - featured in Nature - containing 15 years of data on 913 floods with human settlement maps across 169 countries.In this episode we talk about Beth’s journey to starting Cloud2Street, what being a scientists means to her, as well as what the impact of the Global Flood Database has been. We talk on what one needs to do to actually have an impact; the role data science modelling but also insurance both have and how they work hand in hand. We touch on the open-science approach Cloud2Street is taking, all the while being a privately held for-profit company.---Find previous episodes and other show notes at mindsbehindmaps.comIf you'd like to help me out, please consider leaving a review directly on the website, or on Apple Podcast.---About Beth:TwitterLinkedInCloud2StreetTime stamps3:27 - Conversation begins, Beth presents herself7:55 - Why be a scientist?10:57 - Cloud2Street12:19 - Building a company as a scientist16:37 - Global Flood Database20:41 - Impact doesn’t only come from better algorithms24:12 - Impact of publishing the Global Flood Database28:37 - Creating the Database33:30 - Why insurance is important39:58 - Making sure Data & Maps are actually useful45:21 - How accurate does it need to be to solve the problem?50:07 - Finding the right metric54:42 - Cloud2Street’s Business Model1:03:48 - Open Science in a private company1:13:33 - Using / Finding the best data for the job1:20:39 - Communicating limitations1:24:02 - Book recommendationsShownotes:Global Flood DatabaseARC: African Risk CapacityIEEE Podcast episode with Beth: Down to Earth S2:EP2Media recommendations:Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas PikettySeeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed by James C. ScottWinners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand GiridharadasThis Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi KleinPlease feel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastWebsite

Keith Masback was CEO of the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation for over a decade and is now an Angel Investor and Advisor to multiple start-ups, mostly related to Earth Observation & Remote Sensing. Keith started in the US Army, working as an Infantry Officer, and went on to join the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.We talk about Keith's perspective both in the military and in the civilian world of Earth Observation, or as he points out, Geospatial Intelligence. We also touch on what Angel Investing & Advising is and why he does it, as well as talk about the role of leader he's taken on multiple times. ---Find previous episodes and other shownotes at mindsbehindmaps.com---About Keith Masback:LinkedInTwitter Time stamps:02:05 - Episode starts, Keith introduces himself10:00 - Keith’s introduction to geospatial in the military14:00 - Learning from the people you lead20:00 - Operationalizing imagery intelligence26:10 - Building trust to change mentalities and processes35:40 - Moving into advising start ups39:10 - What does an advisor do?46:05 - Deciding who & what to invest in51:00 - Keeping an open mind to opportunities54:05 - "Geospatial Intelligence"59:25 - The value proposition brought by Planet1:01:50 - Keeping up with the news1:05:15 - Keith’s videos on explaining satellite images with WIRED1:10:30 - Media Recommendations1:14:50 - One last question: Are we lacking "getting mud on our boots” today? Shownotes:United States Geospatial Intelligence FoundationHermeusBlogpost: The totally made-up word that’s changing the worldWired videos:Spy Satellite Expert Explains How to Analyze Satellite ImagerySpy Satellite Expert Breaks Down Surveillance Scenes From Movies & TVInternational Spy MuseumMedia recommendation:GettysburgKiller AngelsA Bridge Too Far Please feel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastWebsite

Tyler Erickson is a Developer Advocate at Google, more specifically working on Google Earth Engine - a platform providing access to many different Earth Observation datasets merged together - allowing users to focus more time on building their solutions.We talk about the importance of curiosity across fields to foster innovation, go behind the scenes of Google Earth Engine, and explore OpenET, an application Tyler has worked on that leverages Earth Engine. About Tyler:LinkedInTwitterShownotes:Range by David EpsteinAmerican Geophysical UnionRebecca MooreGoogle Earth EngineNASA Processing LevelsOpenETBook & Media recommendations:Bicycle Diaries by David Byrnebikepacking.comJupyter BookFastPagesThe Evolution of Trust by Nicky Case Time stamps:03:10 - Conversation starts, Tyler introduces himself8:45 - Generalists or Specialists13:30 - Fostering innovations & ideas across fields18:45 - Incentivizing sharing in research21:45 - Reproduce & Replicate30:00 - Tyler’s work: Developer Advocate at Google Earth Engine34:20 - A Short History of Google Earth Engine40:40 - Why did people use it?45:00 - Behind the scenes: Python & JavaScript52:20 - Opinionated Data Processing59:50 - Working with a community1:03:30 - Commercial partnerships1:18:00 - OpenET1:27:10 - Building a solution that solves specific problems1:33:45 -Benefits & Drawbacks of Story Telling1:42:00 - Book & Media Recommendations Please feel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastReach out by email: [email protected]

Dan Hammer co-founded & build the first few versions of Global Forest Watch, and is now working on Earthrise Media, a non-profit that brings data scientists, designers and storytellers together to tackle global environmental challenges.We talk about how Global Forest Watch was built, how journalists have leveraged the platform to tell stories and how it lived on until today. We also touch on the importance of design in addition to data science, and the power of telling stories. Dan HammerWebsiteLinkedInTwitterShow notes:Global Plastic WatchGlobal Forest WatchEarthrise MediaSpaceKnowApollo 8 Earthrise imageFrank Borman Apollo 8 Wikipedia articlePew Research survey: 2018 public survey on NASA PrioritiesCaptain Fantastic Time stamps:03:00 - Conversation starts, Dan presents himself08:30 - The tools behind monitoring deforesting back in 200912:00 - How Global Forest Watch 2.0 started18:45 : Why Global Forest Watch continued on25:40 - Collaborating with journalists29:50 - An example of leveraging Earth Observation data for policy making : Global Plastic Watch31:00 - Having an impact38:50 - Precision vs Accuracy45:45 - Earthrise Media: Design, Data science & story telling51:35 - The importance of Design56:50 - Dealing with & communicating uncertainty1:02:00 - Non-profit or for-profit?1:08:10 - Building a team1:10:20 - Origin of the name "Earthrise" & Inspiration through space1:21:15 - Book / Media Recommendation Please feel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastReach out by email: [email protected]

Charles Blanchet is the VP of Solutions at Iceye. Charles has over 20 years of experience building start ups, more recently in companies focused around data. Iceye owns a constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites, and is also working on providing flood monitoring insights derived from the images these satellites take.We talk SAR, how Charles joined Iceye, the importance of finding focus as a company, and how thinking is an important task in itself. Charles Blanchet:LinkedInShow notes:Iceye SolutionsCharles blog post on hiringNew Philosopher magazineTime Stamps:04:00 - Episode begins: Charles presents himself8:45 - Finding product-market fit in Earth Observation13:10 - The importance and need for focus17:00 - Is the space industry different than any other field?21:30 - Is SaaS a good model for companies like Iceye?26:30 - "Deriving value out of imagery and turning it into information is a tough business"36:20 - Can there be too much focus?39:00 - Charles thoughts on Iceye’s current focus on flood monitoring41:46 - Building startups over and over again48:30 - Assembling a team58:10 - The life story interview question1:08:40 - How Charles joined Iceye1:12:20 - Charles’ next 5 years1:14:10 - Taking dedicated time to think1:25:25 - Media recommendationPlease feel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastReach out by email: [email protected]

Chinmay Adhvaryu is the co-founder and CEO of Influunt, a company focused on providing insights around water damage using Earth Observation data. He previously founded, and then shut down Earthlab AI, a platform to aggregate, preprocess and analyze satellite imagery.We talk about both of these experiences, how Chinmay learned from the first one and from his previous experience in the world of Internet of Things, which he now applies those to Influunt. About Chinmay:TwitterLinkedInInfluuntShow notes:Tech starsWeather data company, TomorrowChinmay's Twitter thread on founding an Earth Observation companyBook & Media recommendation:"Enemy of All Mankind" by Steven JohnsonTime stamps:2:20 - Episode Begins, Chinmay presents himself4:05 - Chinmay’s entry into the satellite imagery market9:10 - Reality check, what customers want compared to what can be done14:50 - Finding a fitting business model16:40 - Context is king22:10 - Staying in Earth Observation after closing a previous company24:30 - Choosing to work on water damage monitoring32:30 - How do we move from assessing damage to preventing it?38:45 - Chinmay’s thoughts on the Earth Observation industry44:40 - Parallels with the Internet of Things world47:15 - Microsoft Planetary Computer & Google Earth Engine51:45 - Chinmay’s ties to India55:10 - Climate change is tackled by people from all over the world1:01:25 - Experience at Techstars1:08:10 - Incremental changes over revolutions1:12:00 - Book & Media recommendationPlease feel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastReach out by email: [email protected]

Joe Morrison is the VP of Commercial Product at Umbra, who builds & operates Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites. He is determined to make satellite imagery more accessible, and has shared many of his thoughts about the Earth Observation industry on this blog "A Closer Look with Joe Morrison".We talk about how buying satellite imagery is not a solved problem, how he builds a team and how Umbra is trying to change how satellite imagery is sold. Joe compares the current Earth Observation market to the railroad companies of a few hundred years ago, and we discuss making predictions in public. Joe Morrison:Twitter: https://twitter.com/mouthofmorrisonSubstack Blog: https://joemorrison.substack.com/welcomeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-morrison/Time stamps:6:30 - Episode begins, Joe presents himself8:48 - How does a people person end up in the map business?10:25 - Joe's story entering the geospatial field15:15 - People who use the word "geospatial" hate maps21:20 - Is "New Space" changing the industry?(22:25 - Audio starts degrading a bit)29:00 - Why work on the infrastructure when applications are lacking?32:20 - Why Joe joined Umbra34:25 - What if buying X were like sat imagery37:25 - Is infrastructure ever solved? (Audio is better again)40:18 - The importance of the people we work with49:05 - Space attracts people53:12 - Working with people who’ve interacted with your content & how we both create our content59:22 - Coming from a Space background1:06:10 - Fighting impostor syndrome1:10:55- A great team isn’t just great people1:17:40 - Is Umbra a data company?1:26:00 - Moving towards selling data as cheap as possible1:31:25 - Relationship between image providers and Defense & Governments1:36:10 - Umbra’s target audience1:42:58 - The technical barrier to entry and Joe’s thoughts on Analysis Ready Data1:45:40 - SAR imagery isn’t valuable in it’s own, it’s like salt (Audio quality drops again a bit)1:52:28 - Making predictions about the industry in public2:00:33 - Insanity & Obsessions (Audio quality is good again)2:08:02 - Joe’s Book RecommandationShow notes:Umbra: https://umbra.space/Azavea: https://www.azavea.com/NACIS (National American Cartographic Information Society): https://nacis.org/GIS definition, video of guy trying to explaining his job to non geo people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg4YsAjreOAMusk presenting Starship in 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Uyfqi_TE8Joe’s prediction Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/mouthofmorrison/status/1447917122772946951?s=20Book recommendation: “A river runs through it” by Norman MacleanBand recommendation: Lawrence, their latest album: Hotel TV Please feel free to reach out!My Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaxLenormandReach out by email: [email protected] news about the podcast: https://twitter.com/MindsBehindMaps

Welcome back to another episode of Minds behind Maps!In this episode I sit down with Bruno Sánchez-Andrade Nuño, the Program Director of the Planetary Computer at Microsoft as well as the author of "Impact Science: The science of getting to radical social and environmental breakthroughs". About Bruno:Twitter: https://twitter.com/brunosanLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nasonurb/Website: https://brunosan.eu/Bruno's book "Impact Science, The science of getting to radical social and environmental breakthroughs": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46137268-impact-science?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=jvKJBnRM5k&rank=1"Impact Science" on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SN1L4L2/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1 Timestamps:4:20 : Conversation starts, Bruno presents himself10:30 : How Bruno entered Academia14:20 : Science / Engineering duality18:05 : Skills over Knowledge21:15 : How education could be more skill centered29:05 : How Bruno entered geospatial31:51 : At the edge of human knowledge of the Sun36:07 : Leaving NASA to focus on more applied projects40:04 : Trying to work for an NGO: “Bruno we don’t need a rocket scientist”47:53 : Cheap Data Science51:20 : Limitations & Playfulness for clever ideas55:18 : Writing “Impact Science”1:05:01 : From outputs to outcomes: a missing layer in Data Science1:11:08 : Data Informed instead of Data Driven1:17:44: Bruno's work at Microsoft as Program Director of the Planetary Computer1:33:18: Partnerships within the Planetary Computer project1:38:25 : Books & media recommendations Show notes:OpenStreetMap: https://www.openstreetmap.orgFast.ai : Applicable Machine Learning framework & lessonsKaggle.com: Data Science competition platformOrigin of the term data science (under 'Etymology'): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_scienceBruno’s Medium blog post “In Defense of Cheap Data Science”: https://towardsdatascience.com/in-defense-of-cheap-data-science-f630f248d400Chai time data science interview of Jeremy Howard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=205j37G1cxwIndia’s night light mapping project: http://india.nightlights.io/Microsoft's Planetary Computer: https://planetarycomputer.microsoft.com/Book recommendations:A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill BrysonThe Martian by Andy WeirHumankind by Rutger BregmanFactfulness by Hans RoslingBruno's Goodread: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19228134.Bruno_S_nchez_Andrade_Nu_oI'm sorry I couldn't find the story related to Youtube's video loading times! Please feel free to reach out!My Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaxLenormandReach out by email: [email protected] news about the podcast: https://twitter.com/MindsBehindMaps

Welcome to another episode of Minds behind Maps!In this episode I sit down with Dr Nadine Alameh, current CEO of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). We talk about geospatial, standards, but also Nadine's earlier days in wartime Lebanon, dance, making life changing decisions, and just many different topics that I hope portray how people are complex, in many different ways. About Nadine:Twitter: https://twitter.com/nadinesaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadinealameh/Open Geospatial Consortium: https://www.ogc.org/ Time stamps:- 04:00 : Episode starts, Nadine presents herself- 9:30 : Nadine’s childhood days in wartime in Lebanon and how it shaped her decision making- 15:00 : Nadine talks about sharing her journey with her children- 19:05 : Nadine’s journey at and after MIT- 24:30 : Dance & activities outside of ones career- 28:40 : How owning a dance franchise helps push the OGC forward- 33:30 : Nadine’s previous startup experiences & why Consulting doesn’t scale- 40:00 : Geospatial is mainstream but it’s not done- 42:00 : The role of the Open Geospatial Consortium- 48:15 : Prioritization of different issues that need solving- 51:45 : Adoption of standards & working with a community- 54:00 : The OGC as an organization- 1:04:30 : Working with companies outside of the “normal” geospatial: Epic Games- 1:12:00 : Lessons from the aviation industry- 1:23:05 : Trust issues with satellite derived information- 1:28:45 : Accessing data is still complex- 1:30:20 : Speaking & learning multiple languages- 1:40:10 : Book recommendations! Show notes:Previous interview of Nadine I refer to a few times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29bKEJ9jZsQTalk about the overlap of geo with the entertainment industry (Starts at 9min): https://vimeo.com/340070941OGC Innovation Program Developer Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OGCDevSurveyCesium on building the open metaverse: https://cesium.com/blog/2021/08/13/a-birds-of-a-feather-session-building-the-open-metaverse/Book & media recommendations:Daniel O’Donohue’s podcast, Mapscaping: https://mapscaping.com/Aravind Ravichandran’s podcast, TerraWatch Space: https://anchor.fm/terrawatch-spaceGap selling by KeenanCulture Renovation by Kevin OakesHello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms by Hannah FryBrick by Brick by David Robertson Please feel free to reach out, I truly do want to hear what you think of this :)My Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaxLenormandReach out by email: [email protected] Twitter account for the podcast: https://twitter.com/MindsBehindMaps

Welcome to the 5th episode of Minds Behind Maps!This is a bit of a special episode, though maybe one of my favorite conversations I've had the chance to have so far. We talk about creating content online, it gets a bit meta about geospatial podcasting but we also touch on some of the different paths one takes in life.About Daniel:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielodonohue/Twitter: https://twitter.com/MapScapingMapscaping: https://mapscaping.com/Timestamps:- 4:15 : Beginning of episode, Daniel introduces himself- 9:20 : The beginning of the Mapscaping podcast- 15:30 : Leading a conversation- 18:40 : Daniel’s editorial decisions- 23:40 : Mapscaping’s “Grand Plan”- 26:25 : Podcasting as a medium- 37:50 : Finding one's voice online - 39:55 : Marketing the podcast & spreading the word- 44:30 : Targeting a specific audience- 51:00 : Building an audience is the true barrier to entry- 55:00 : Where does the name “Mapscaping” come from?- 57:40 : Starting doesn’t require much means- 59:50 : Inspiring others- 1:07:45 : The accessibility of the people within the geospatial field- 1:11:50 : Building communities- 1:15:05 : Building a business around Mapscaping- 1:20:45 : Monetizing a podcast- 1:30:10 : Daniel’s previous lives- 1:44:15 : Daniel's last thoughts & media suggestionsLinks towards topics in the conversation:Mapscaping episode about personal branding ("Building A Personal Brand In The Geospatial Industry"): https://t.co/fr7HpatKuV?amp=1Seth Godin's website: https://www.sethgodin.com/Seth Godin's Akimbo podcast: https://www.akimbo.link/

Welcome to the 4th episode of this experiment!This was a insightful conversation talking about the big picture of where the Earth Observation market is and might be heading in the next few years.About Aravind:Aravind's Twitter: https://twitter.com/aravind_ravesAravind's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aravindravichandran/TerraWatch Space consulting: https://www.terrawatch.space/servicesTerraWatch Space podcast: https://anchor.fm/terrawatch-spaceTime stamps:04:05 : Aravind presents himself13:25 : How a software background helped in Aravind's consulting work17:00 : Explaining the field at a high level / low level21:50 : Helping companies get "out of the Earth Observation bubble"25:20 : Working with non-geospatial industries that need Earth Observation data31:45 : How to manage expectation for people not familiar with geospatial data?38:10 : Is the SaaS (Software as a Service) model leading to some of rise in funding?41:00 : IaaS; Insights as a Service instead of SaaS46:25 : The relationship between Big Tech and Earth Observation53:10 : The iPhone moment in Earth Observation1:00:00 : Public / Private sector interaction1:12:20 : The value of working on the boring stuff1:17:25 : The Indian EO market1:28:35 : Trying to understand why the West hears little about the Indian scene1:31:00 : Aravind's podcast: TerraWatch Space1:41:25 : Book recommendations!Links towards topics in the discussion:Kerbal Space Program: https://www.kerbalspaceprogram.com/PwC: https://www.pwc.com/Planet acquiring Google's Terra Bella constellation in 2017: https://spacenews.com/planet-to-acquire-terra-bella-from-google/Indian Space Research Organization: https://www.isro.gov.in/Pixxel: https://www.pixxel.space/Tim Ferris Show: https://tim.blog/podcast/Book recommendations:Sapiens, a Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah HarariWhen Breath Becomes Air by Paul KalanithiMeditations by Marcus Aurelius As always feel free to reach out to me if you have anything to say about the podcast:[email protected] through Twitter: @MaxLenormandThanks for taking the time to listen :)

Welcome to the 3rd episode of Minds Behind Maps!As I mention in the episode intro, Denise was one of the first people I wanted to talk to when starting this podcast. I hope you enjoy this conversation!Denise's social media's:https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisemckenzie/https://twitter.com/SpatialRed Links towards topics of discussion:- Locus Charter: https://ethicalgeo.org/locus-charter/- Benchmark Initiative: https://benchmarkinitiative.com/- Strava reveals location of US military bases: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/28/fitness-tracking-app-gives-away-location-of-secret-us-army-bases- Elaine Ball's Get Kids Into Survey: https://www.getkidsintosurvey.com/- Andrew Zolli, from Planet: https://twitter.com/andrew_zolli- Book recommendation: Bill Gates': 'How to Avoid a Climate Disaster' And some time stamps:3:00 : Episode Starts, Denise presenting herself5:20 : Why is location data ethics important?7:35 : Public involvement & outreach9:05 : The Locus Charter13:35 : How would applications & companies share their experiences19:05 : Response to the Locus Charter21:40 : Covid increasing the public's' interest in location data29:50 : How do we decide what is ethical?35:00 : Laws / Policies39:05 : Denise's early career path45:05 : The term "geospatial"49:15 : Education in geospatial (& geography)55:25 : Data Trusts61:15 : Difference between Locus Charter & Data Trust1:02:55 : The data take of open source1:08:15 : The Non-for-Profit scene1:14:45 : Book recommendations! For those who do check these show notes, and if you feel like it, you can reach out to me ;)[email protected]://twitter.com/MaxLenormand Most importantly though, thanks for listening :)

Welcome to the 2nd episode in this experiment!It was a blast to sit down with Will, I hope you enjoy this, I certainly did. As last time here are most of the things we talked about:Will Cadell & Sparkgeo on Twitter:@geo_will@sparkgeoLinks to materials we talked about:The geospatial product trap blog post: https://sparkgeo.com/blog/the-geospatial-product-trap/GDAL sponsors page: https://gdal.org/sponsors/index.htmlEven Rouault, current maintainer of GDAL: @EvenRouaultSTAC (SpatioTemporal Asset Catalogs): http://stacspec.org/Google Earth Engine: https://earthengine.google.com/Seems like time-stamps were appreciated, so here they are:00:00 : Intro02:35 : Beginning of episode: Will presents himself and the story of creating Sparkgeo20:30: Do you miss coding?23:25 : Keeping up with the ever changing technical side of things27:00 : 3 main reasons that make geospatial so popular today32:02 : Do we have a role in educating people outside of geospatial about the field?37:40 : OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) & STAC (SpatioTemporal Assets Catalog)40:30 : Our responsibility to explain what we are doing with geospatial data46:25 : The "geospatial product trap"55:10 : How is Sparkgeo not falling for this trap?1:06:00 : Choosing the projects Sparkgeo works on1:09:50 : GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Layer) & open source1:18:50 : Cloud infrastructure in geospatial1:27:55 : Google Earth Engine1:31:22 : Will's Book recommendations Feel free to drop me a line, I'd love to know what you think of [email protected]@gmail.comThanks for listening!

Welcome to the First Episode of Minds behind Maps!I hope you enjoy this conversation with Ian Schuler. I'm going to try to keep track of most of the things we talked about in this episode if you want to go check them out yourself. Keep track of what Ian & Development Seed are doing:https://twitter.com/ianschulerhttps://twitter.com/developmentseedLinks to materials discussed in the episode:Development Seed school mapping: https://developmentseed.org/blog/2021-03-18-ai-enabling-school-mappingJoe Morrison's blog: https://joemorrison.substack.com/welcomeEarly days of Development Seed: https://www.linkedin.com/in/egundersen/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianshward/, Signal's founder, Moxie Marlinspike: https://twitter.com/moxie I'm going to try to provide a basic version of time-stamps if you want to skip by some sections:00:00 : Intro1:25 : Beginning of episode; Ian presenting himself7:55 : Why open source?19:00 : Trust in a world of AI models26:25 : How to communicate the limitations of machine learning solutions36:45 : Which data to use for which problem?42:25 : What is important in satellite imagery?55:00 : Data fusion1:00:25 : Deciding who to work with1:07:10 : Origins of Development Seed1:11:00 : Ian's previous work1:15:40 : So do you build & lead a company around impact?1:30:05 : Working in the days of covid1:40:35 : A last note on the future of geospatial data Feel free to drop me a line, I'd love to know what you think of [email protected]@gmail.comThanks for listening

Welcome to this experiment!If you want to follow this journey, I'm @MaxLenormand on Twitter!