Let’s talk geospatial.
By Deven Desai, Head of Product
Let’s talk geospatial.
Throughout my career, I have been fortunate enough to work with industry-leading professionals in two domains, i.e. within the FOSS4G (Free Open Source Software for Geospatial) space, as well as the “Enterprise” geospatial world.
During this time, I’ve realized that:
- Communicating information about geospatial data is quite hard for folks outside of the GIS world.
- Not unsurprisingly, many professionals even seem to enjoy the fact that it can be extremely complicated and are even proud of its complexity at times.
- There are a variety of companies that aspire to be the next great geospatial analytics platform. I would love to ensure we build strong partnerships with these…they’ve clearly gotten a head start into the field, as well as tons of funding to achieve their goals.
With these insights in mind, I want to explore an alternate avenue of thought.
Here at Atlas AI, we want to focus on information that drives efficiency in emerging markets. This information won’t only come from satellite imagery or analyzing pixels, it will come from an investment in retrieving high-quality data from the source.
Taking things for granted
Certain datasets produced consistently by large government agencies are widely available and have been put to use for over a decade in developed markets. For years, this data has helped inform crop-planning and infrastructure development, proving to be a critical part of successful and efficient decision-making in spaces that could benefit from this information most.
“This information won’t only come from satellite imagery or analyzing pixels, it will come from an investment in retrieving high-quality data from the source.”
For example, while there is a US Department of Agriculture that will painstakingly dispatch researchers on a monthly basis to collect farm field data, rarely will such an agency exist in emerging markets (same thing is true for the economic side of things… census data and price indices are widely made available by institutions like Eurostat and BLS.gov for their respective jurisdictions).
True, the emerging markets world often relies on surveying done by external entities, such as the World Bank or USAID. And, while these resources are helpful, the real solution is to help leaders harvest a portfolio of data that is specific to their community, company, or nation.
Solving this problem
At Atlas AI, we are in the business of helping leaders make informed decisions by providing usable, understandable information (not just “geospatial analytics”) for local municipalities, lenders, telcos, insurance companies, cooperatives, and smallholder farmers alike.
The less work our customers have to do, the better.
We’re using modern ML/CV methods (backed by peer-reviewed research) and creating a set of data layers, which will be interoperable with other applications and workflows. None of that really is the point, though. In a fiercely competitive environment, what’s going to matter is who can simplify information to help someone take the best action for their life, team, business, or country.
“The real solution is to help leaders harvest a portfolio of data that is specific to their community, company, or nation.”
Farmers should be able to understand exactly what is going on in their field without having to use expensive or hard-to-use software. Lenders should be able to understand where risk is present in their books based on changing conditions. Governments should be able to better understand their food and infrastructure development needs.
And, they shouldn’t have to pay for this information at an exorbitant, out-of-range price. This data should be accessible at competitive pricing. At Atlas AI, we are about making data available and we are passionate about helping emerging markets grow from within.
Expect to see more from our side soon…
