15 Minute Maps
This podcast is dedicated to those people making positive change in the world using GIS, mapping and cartography. Each guest is given 15 minutes to describe their dream map, and how it could impact the work they do.
Hello and welcome to 15 Minute maps, where I ask my guests to let their minds roam free and come up with a new idea for their dream map. The first known map of the world was created three thousand years ago, (of a flat disc-like world surrounded by water,) and today we are making maps of the furthest reaches of the known universe. In between lie a myriad of mapping possibilities. What if we could do away with resource limitations… think beyond the conventions of time, space and political boundaries? What new kinds of map could we dream up?
15 Minute Maps
Episode 2 - Olivier Cottray: A Map in the Eye of the User
Today I am joined by Olivier Cottray, Director of Humanitarian Solutions at ESRI, and with nearly 5000 followers on LinkedIn, he is the closest the humanitarian Geospatial community has to a celebrity. Starting his career working for the Antarctic survey, Ollivier has had a storied carreer in multiple NGOs.
Olivier tells us about his dream GIS, a system that allows users to define their needs and prorities. Drawing from his experience with GICHD, he bases his idea on the PRISMA project that used sliding scales to help reach a consensus of de-mining prioritisation. By allowing local voices to decide where should be de-mined first, practical decisions could be made to prioritise action. Olivier wants to expand this needs driven map to the globality of humanitarian response and integrate it directly in the rebuild after, what he so eloquently calls, the humanitarian reset.
Join me next Monday where I will be speaking to Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, where he takes us on a tour of the BLIMP.
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