Category: Blog

NOTE: This post was originally a Twitter thread – if you prefer you can read it here I have been spending a lot of time lately digging into where the big gains in #geospatial technology will come from over the next 3-5 years. Here are my top 5 1. Climate Change Hands down, the biggest…

What does mapping look like when collecting data is no longer the hardest part? And how can we harness this power of digital maps as an opportunity to put people at the center In Nov 2020, I was honored to present at TEDxCalgary and you can watch the video here https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_neufeld_the_future_of_mapping_at_human_scale or directly on Youtube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6wNM_tnuG0&

I’m not a big fan of most “business books.” In my experience they are pamphlets that have been puffed up into book form so that they look substantial on the shelf. Have you watched the classic Simon Sinek TED talk? If so, then Congratulations! You don’t need to read his book. The book is just…

In ten years of working with tech companies innovating and releasing new technology I have seen a lot of project proposals. I don’t have a count, but it’s probably over 2k by now. The good ones all have something in common, and so do the bad ones for that matter.   The excellent projects combine…

Joe Morrison had a great thread on Twitter yesterday about the future of earth observation. In my opinion this can be abstracted up to the future of geospatial technology, and more successful companies will be built by people focused in vertical markets with clear problems and market pull. There will always be a place for…

EDIT: I wrote this post while working on my TEDx Calgary talk. Now that it’s live you can find it here https://www.jonathanneufeld.com/the-future-of-mapping-at-human-scale-tedxcalgary-talk/ In the beginning, we had hard copy, and it was good. The year was 600 CE and humans were happily inscribing maps onto fragments of rock and showing them proudly to their friends…

As we recently shared on Twitter and the website, FOSS4G 2020 Calgary has been canceled. Clearly this wasn’t the outcome we were hoping for after working for nearly two-years to bring this event to Calgary, but the reality of COVID-19 is that we likely won’t see large gatherings of people in 2020. Recently another chair…

I’m thinking about the intersection of privacy and location data a lot lately and I believe that there is a massive opportunity there for the product or service. This piece by the NYT from Dec 2019 One Nation, Tracked: An Investigation into The Smartphone Tracking Industry From Times Opinion does an excellent job of laying…

I have attended and organized professional events where the content is mainly delivered through panels. When done well panels can be engaging, insightful, and entertaining but unfortunately not all panels are created equal. If you’re on a panel, or organizing an event that features panels here are ways to ensure it’s the best possible experience…