We invite you to join Earth Imagery at Work MOOC instructors Kevin Butler and Emily Windahl here on the GeoNet Community for a LIVE AMA (Ask Me Anything) event. The AMA will take place in this discussion thread on Friday March 2, 2018 from 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. (PST).
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This is an opportunity to ask Kevin and Emily questions about the course, about earth imagery data, Esri software, GIS or anything else that comes to mind.
How does the AMA work? During the AMA, you can post your questions by clicking the "Add Reply" button below and Kevin and Emily will reply to your questions in comments. You are welcome to post questions ahead of the AMA and they will answer them during the AMA. Please note: You must be logged in to post questions and see responses. Please see instructions on How to Log into GeoNet for the AMA.
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It really feels like a shell game. we thought we were getting an improvement, but what we really got was duped with a product so bad is almost useless. There is a reason everyone I know in GIS went back to using World Imagery Clarity as soon as this was released and it wasn't because we like having old imagery. From cloud cover to just plain poor quality I cant believe it ever passed anyone's QA heck I've even had a couple airplanes caught in the imagery.
Hello, what a great idea to do an AMA!
What important studies and experiences have led you to your career path today? (i.e., studies, work experience, professional development)
Are there particular skills that you would recommend looking into for those pursuing careers in imagery and GIS?
Also, How would you recommend getting involved with international development projects?
Thank you for your time!
Cheers,
Carmen
I'm not sure about those first two questions. If you're looking for information on development projects, I would suggest starting off with sites for NGOs like the World Bank or World Health Organization. Since they're relatively well funded, they have the resources to publish large datasets online.
That being said, finding out about smaller NGOs and NPOs could also be helpful. I'm sure that there are a lot of groups out there that need or want someone to help out with GIS work, but they might not have either the resources or the knowledge about how to go about that.
Agreed. A lot of organizations that have GIS problems don't realize that they have a GIS problem.
Hey Carmen!
My experiences were pretty varied in terms of where I started and where I am today. GIS was never the goal, it just became a useful tool along the way. I got a degree in international affairs for my undergrad degree which is a fairly common degree for someone who grew up in the Washington DC area. Then I joined the Peace Corps and worked in Peru for 2 years and later rode out the financial crisis teaching English in Colombia. I came back to the US only to find out that with a degree in my field, 3+ years of international experience and fluency in two languages that I could not get a job. That's when I started looking at technical skills that I could pick up that would differentiate me and a graduate degree in GIS made a lot of sense.
GIS develops so quickly that if you're really good at picking up new developments, you can have a career that is focused primarily on doing GIS work. You'll need to be able to code, build apps, and do some other IT type stuff to hold this down. Or you can be a person who understands GIS and finds that techy person to implement your ideas and goals.
The majority of my contacts on linkedin are still from the international development field. If you want, I'd be happy to facilitate a connection with any of my contacts there.
Hello Kevin and Emily!
I was just curious about what you guys see the future of GIS and it's software will be in 1 year? 5 years? and 20 years? I know it's hard to look into the future but do you guys think that GIS will continue to grow it's influence into the realm of things. What kind of problems do you foresee GIS solving in the future that we currently don't have the resources to?
Thanks, Dominic.
Hi Dominic,
I think you can make a compelling argument that the part of GIS that has gone mainstream in the past 5 years revolves around networking/routing. Think about ride-sharing, delivery services, etc. It's gone from a simple question: how to get from point A to point B? and it's multiplied by a billion to route everything to everywhere.
Now, we're in an environment where everything has a sensor and can communicate with all of the other sensors. People are going to figure out unique ways to leverage all of these sensors to collect even more data than their original intent and will then be able to use deep learning to find new patterns. My hunch is that these data streams will be useful for organizations that want to assess risk on a very granular scale. Imagine car insurance based on where you drive to and the other drivers that are on the road. That data will exist and the ability to make an assessment will be as well. And this data is fundamentally spatial in nature.
Thank you for the AMA! So you have time to think about it I will ask my question ahead of time: If Jack Dangermond got in a fight with one of those GIGANTIC teddy bears from Costco, who would win?
Werewolf queen. The answer is always werewolf queen! adventuretimereference
The Costco Plush Bear is 93 inches tall and Jack is approximately 78 inches tall. I have a feeling that Jack has a secret super strength and would drop the bear like a mic unless it was an army of plush bears.