Open source is a core aspect of Development Seed's work, allowing for collaboration and alignment with client needs.
Development Seed aims to automate data extraction and provide packaged insights similar to a weather app experience using accessible satellite imagery.
Data fusion and harmonization are important for unlocking valuable insights by integrating different sensors and harmonized datasets.
Development Seed prioritizes impact-driven work that aligns with their mission, values, and allows for flexibility in creating the best solutions.
Deep dives
The Role of Development Seed
Development Seed's role is to bridge the gap between geospatial data and solving problems. They work with partners and clients to address challenges and find solutions using geospatial information. They focus on interpreting and drawing insights from data to make better decisions in various sectors.
The Importance of Open Source
Development Seed emphasizes the importance of open source in addressing challenges. They contribute to open-source projects and believe that making knowledge and code available to others drives their core way of working and brings in new opportunities. Open source allows their tools to be aligned with clients' needs and enables collaboration.
The Value of Interpretation and Packaging
As satellite imagery becomes more accessible, Development Seed's role will shift towards interpretation and packaging of insights. They aim to automate data extraction and provide packaged information to end users, similar to a weather app experience. This requires understanding the importance of temporal resolution, continuity of images, and cross-calibrated data for accurate analysis.
Data Fusion and Harmonization
Development Seed acknowledges the importance of data fusion and harmonization. They highlight the value of harmonized datasets like the provisional Landsat Sentinel product and predict the future integration of different sensors for better temporal coverage and calibrated relationships between data sources. Models and tools that leverage different sensor data in a harmonized manner will unlock valuable insights.
Focusing on Impact-driven Work and Criteria for Opportunity Evaluation
The podcast episode discusses the importance of impact-driven work and the criteria that Development Seed uses to evaluate opportunities. They prioritize opportunities that align with their mission and values, where they believe in the organization's goals. They also consider technical contribution and the potential for additional open-source or R&D work. They emphasize the importance of partnering with organizations that can make decisions on a timeline that aligns with their workflow. They prioritize working with good people and organizations that allow flexibility to adapt and create the best solutions.
Building a Diverse and Collaborative Team
The episode explores the process of building and maintaining a diverse team at Development Seed. They value diversity in terms of background, perspectives, and skills. They strive to bring together individuals with different expertise, from geospatial specialists to those with experience in healthcare or finance. This diversity enables the organization to approach problem-solving from multiple angles. They emphasize the importance of open communication and collaboration within the team, utilizing tools like GitHub for transparent decision-making and knowledge sharing.
Adapting to Change and Future Trends
The podcast delves into how Development Seed has adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges posed by the rapidly changing world. They discuss how their remote work structure and asynchronous communication methods helped them navigate the transition. The organization experienced both project losses and new opportunities related to COVID-19. They highlight the need to find cloud-optimized ways to store and access geospatial data, enabling scalable solutions and access for decision-making. They emphasize the importance of moving from traditional file formats to more distributed and accessible data models. The discussion concludes with the idea of bridging the gap between pixels and pockets, creating accessible ways for individuals to access and analyze geospatial data to make informed decisions.
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/ianschuler
https://twitter.com/developmentseed
Links to materials discussed in the episode:
Development Seed school mapping: https://developmentseed.org/blog/2021-03-18-ai-enabling-school-mapping
Joe Morrison's blog: https://joemorrison.substack.com/welcome
Early days of Development Seed: https://www.linkedin.com/in/egundersen/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianshward/,
