You don't need GIS, you need to solve a problem

James Milner

@JamesLMilner

james@loxodrome.io

Software Engineer

Running Order

15 mins - UCL and Work
15 mins - Observations on the Industry
5 mins - Work Life
10 mins - Questions

UCL

Dissertation

The 'Real World'

Esri UK

OS/Geovation

Industry Observations

Commerical Geo vs GIS

Commerical Geo

Google Maps
CityMapper
Zoopla
Uber
AirBnB (kind of)
Pokemon Go

GIS

Local Gov
TfL
Crossrail
Network Rail
Starbucks
Utilities etc

I think they could both learn a little from each other

Commerical Geo

UI/UX
Scale
Customer Oriented

GIS

Specialist techniques
Coordinate systems (!)
Accuracy oriented

GIS is a useful tool in a box, but not every problem is a nail

Where things are going: at a high level

Data Creation and Access

Source: Andreessen Horowitz, 2015

We can estimate that 70% of those location sensors of some capacity

Higher Expectations

Sources and Speed

A movement away from static to dynamic or even real time

AI and Machine Learning is the robotics/automation of the knowledge industry

...at an industry level

SaaS + Developer Tools

Streams, Feeds and APIs
GeoJSON
Death to shapefiles
Vector Tiles!

Data

3D

Faster processing
BIM
Virtual / Augumented Reality
WebGL
Better support

Drones
Autonomous Vehicles
'Internet of Things'
Cube Satellites / Real time
Augmented / Virtual Reality
Machine Learning / AI

Growth Areas

Work Life

Some Observations

I think there is a movement away from traditional ways of working

Traditionally

Increasingly

Meetings

Project Management Software

Internal Emails

Instant Messaging

Middle Management

Autonomy

End of Year Review

Weekly 1 to 1s

Coding is a super valuable skill
Keep informed
Keep your skills relevant
Make friends in the industry

General Advice

Hunt around
Don't settle too much
Consider a startup
2 page CVs
Negotiate your salary