Geomob

On this week’s episode Ed chats with Tobias Jordans about a parking data project in Berlin. It’s something you may not have thought about, but the data about parking spaces and their use can have a big impact on urban dynamics. Tobias explains how city planners, NGOs, and politicians pushing for positive changes can all benefit from accurate parking data. Using OpenStreetMap, Tobias and his colleagues are making it easier to record, retrieve, and update information about parking spaces in Berlin. Listen in to find out about the challenges, learnings, and how you can bring this project to your city. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Do you remember the feeling of travelling with a folded map in your pocket? Whether you’re yearning for a bit of nostalgia, or a young person curious about the history of flying through maps, this week’s guest has something for you. Ed chats with the man behind Direction of Travel, Christian Nolle. This newspaper, a real physical newspaper you can buy, is dedicated to vintage airline maps. Christian uses his own expansive collection of maps to illustrate what flying means to us, how it has changed, and how world issues throughout history have affected flying. Each issue compares and contrasts two airlines. Not just for map nerds, this project attracts graphic designers, artists, and vintage airline magazine lovers. Listen in and you’ll understand why he was the winner of the SplashMaps best speaker prize at our September 28th, 2022 London event. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

How do you combine nostalgia with the future? This week’s guest Jeffery Linn is a Speculative Cartographer who views the future through retro maps. Using vintage maps as his base to project into the future, Jeffery imagines what the world will look like in the future. His work comments on nostalgia and the rapid changes in the environment. Playful teasing climate change deniers, Jefferey maps out a world shaped by climate change in his "Conspiracy of Cartographers" studio. Tune in to hear about the link between sci-fi and cartography and find out which famous author approves of Jefferey’s work Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Joining Ed this week is Geomob London regular (and speaker back in May of 2015), and first full time employee of OpenStreetMap Foundation, Grant Slater. After 15 years of volunteering for OSM, Grant became a full time employee in May 2022 and has continued to work tirelessly to improve the service many in the geospatial community rely on. Listening to Grant speaking of the work he is still so passionate about after all this time is inspiring, especially when you know how small the team is. Tune in to hear about the challenges of operating such a popular service, the evolution of his role, the future of OSM Operations, and how you can get involved. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

We hit 150 episodes! Ed recaps the recent highly-enjoyable and well-attended Geomob London event, which Steven unfortunately missed. Sadly it's not clear if it will be possible to have another event London this year due to possibly conflicting with the world cup. Steven will at least enjoy the second Geomob Tel Aviv coming up in early November. Next up is a discussion of the recent redesign of the Geomob website, and finally Ed shares a marketing success: the upcoming collaboration with MapScaping to promote OpenStreetMap projects (deadline for submission is Oct. 15th, so don't delay). Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

This week join Ed as he chats with Miguel Marques, founder and CEO of Mapidea. Miguel’s small team helps big companies like Vodafone and Domino's to use their own data to create maps with meaning for them. Ed and Miguel discuss the lack of spatial culture in companies and a lack of awareness about the simple solutions that already exist for them. How do you connect the user with their right solution? By educating and involving the user, Mapidea has managed to retain customers for the long term. Tune in for this lively chat about the difficulty of creating a simple GIS product and the startup scene in Portugal. Plus, learn how Miguel’s tool for visualising census data: Locali is helping people to tell the story of their surroundings. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

If you’re a part of the GIS community there is little chance you haven’t heard of QGIS. This week Steven chats with one of the people behind QGIS, Marco Bernasocchi, chair of the QGIS association. Opensource advocate, consultant, and developer Marco explains how QGIS has evolved over the past 20 years, and how an open source project like this is financed. As Steven points out open source projects like this one are true miracles. The perfect example of the collaborative nature of the GIS community and what can be accomplished when people are willing to work together. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

A special podcast episode this week as we look back on FOSS4G 2022, which took place from August 22-28th in Florence, Italy. Whether you attended or not, this inside look at the conference includes the voices of a range of attendees from first timers, to veterans, to sponsors. While the speaker videos are available online, if like Steven you were not able to attend, this will give you an idea of the energy at the return of in person FOSS4G. Find out how people connected and what people were excited about this year. With 25 different voices, this episode is sure to transport you to the lively event. Many thanks to everyone who shared their impressions. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.  

This week Steven speaks with geospatial tech leaders Colonel Paul Hammett and Major George McCrea of the British Army's Royal Engineers. Approximately one third of geospatial professionals work for the military. These particular geographic technicians are involved in many defence organisations operations by providing critical understanding of geospatial data to decision makers. Listen to learn about what they do, how they use existing technology to improve the user experience, and why paper maps will not to be phased out anytime soon! Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

As summer comes to an end Ed and Steven catch-up and update you on what to look forward to in the fall. With two Geomob events scheduled (London and Tel Aviv) there are also plans for events in Barcelona and Berlin. Steven gets ready to celebrate four years of Mappery, while Ed talks about plans for a future marketing project at OpenCage. How do you market your business when your main competitor is Google? Ed gives a sneak peak of a new partnership (with a rival geo podcast of all people). Listen to find out how you can use a Geomob event to present your geo-start-up project, and how you can participate in the next Geomob Podcast Catch-Up! Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.