Auspatious

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are often on the frontlines of environmental change, but historically, there’s been some difficulty sourcing comprehensive tools that allow them to fully see what’s happening on their land. But that’s starting to change. Through the UN Convention to Combat Desertification's adoption of Trends.Earth, countries are gaining access to a platform that transforms complex remote sensing data into actionable insights, helping governments track land degradation and understand where to act. Cesar Luis Garcia, Executive Director and Innovation Expert at Apacheta, shares, “what made Trends.Earth a ‘game changer’ for SIDS is its ability to operate at the scale these countries need. Unlike global datasets that often miss or misrepresent small islands, Trends.Earth is evolving to deliver higher-resolution, more accurate data, capturing everything from fragmented land use patterns to critical coastal ecosystems like mangroves.” Read more about Conservation International’s new Global Environment Facility project focusing Trends.Earth in small island contexts, helping countries move from data gaps to data ownership. #LandDegradation #SIDS #TrendsEarth #SDG15 #Restoration #UNCCD https://lnkd.in/dnFzv8fJ

This is a belated wrap-up post for my 2025. As the zeroth employee of my company Auspatious, I’m really excited and honestly a little shocked that working for myself seems to be successful! Last year was big, in a lot of ways: travel, events, community and commitment. I visited six different countries last year for work, supporting Earth observation programs, delivering workshops and sharing opinions across the Pacific, South-East Asia, Europe, the US and at home here in Australia. I love teaching and sharing what I know, and in the process, helping others to access and analyse Earth observation data more easily. It was a huge privilege to receive the Geospatial Council of Australia's Professional of the Year award at Locate in Brisbane. It was also a privilege to work with a wonderful group of people including my good friend Simon Nitz to deliver the global FOSS4G conference in Auckland. And it was great, as always, to catch up with my Pacific friends (miss you Nicholas Metherall) in Brisbane at IGARSS, where I chaired a diversity panel, and to attend the Pacific GIS and Remote Sensing Conference in Suva. With respect to community, I continue to use some of my time, which means some of the profits of Auspatious, to be the Treasurer for Earth Observation Australia Inc and to be on the Board of OSGeo Oceania. Both boards are great groups of people, and it’s wonderful to work with folks to help bring together the respective communities, but also to remain connected. I really value being able to volunteer my time in this way, and to give back to the communities that I’m a part of. But the biggest change for me at Auspatious, is hiring William Jones, the first full-time employee aside from myself and our group of talented sub-contractor experts. Together, Will, the contractors and I can get a lot done. We have three major projects to work on, in addition to a few smaller ones.  Delivering value in terms of geospatial development, with a focus on cloud native geospatial and Earth observation is core to what we do at Auspatious. I’ve been thinking over the break, and my current strategy is to accumulate a team of thinkers, questioners, collaborators and hackers. Together, we can work on projects oriented towards some idea of the “greater good”. What does that mean? To me, it’s fundamentally underpinned by open source software, open data, open science and the way that enables collaboration, community and the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats. It’s an anti-cynical take, which is important. To close off, I do want to express my gratitude for the opportunity to work independently and with some fantastic people. And of course, the pitch is to reach out if you have any complex projects, which need geospatial expertise, software development or cloud native architecture. Onwards and upwards!