ENGAGE 2017: A Recap

Each year, I have the pleasure of attending DigitalGlobe’s ENGAGE events with some of our very best team members, partners and customers. This year, my ENGAGE “world tour” took me from London in late April to Hong Kong and Houston in May. Each region offered something unique and memorable, and the opportunity to connect with partners and discuss the future. Here’s my world tour recap of the key themes from this year’s events. ENGAGE London was a meeting of the brightest minds in our industry. Some popular discussion topics included big data, artificial intelligence, geo-technologies, cloud computing and machine learning. As one partner told me “Big data is real. ENGAGE 2017 made it clear to all of us.”

My favorite sessions:

Keynote by Jeff Jonas, Data Scientist, Former IBM Fellow and Serial Entrepreneur. Jonas is an acclaimed data scientist who solves some of the world’s most complex business challenges with systems that extract useful intelligence from tsunamis of data. These systems tackle high-profile challenges including identifying potential terrorists, detecting fraudulent behavior in casinos, and early detection of surprise asteroids.
“The Multi-Billion Dollar Artificial Intelligence Market and How DigitalGlobe Plays In It,” by Andre Kearns, Senior Director of Services, DigitalGlobe. Andre provided an overview of the artificial intelligence market, highlighting key applications and how DigitalGlobe is establishing industry leadership in this space.
“Remote Sensing and Geospatial Data for Global Health and Development,” by Vincent Seaman, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I was fascinated to learn about how satellite images reveal gaps in global population data. Learn more about the future of Human Landscape by registering for this webinar.

Read about the award winners at EMEAR ENGAGE, which include ER Solutions providing high-resolution Digital Elevation Models, LuxCarta’s work in the telecommunications market, and the National Mapping Survey of Botswana by Hatfield Consultants Africa. At ENGAGE APAC in Hong Kong, we celebrated innovations in our rapidly changing industry. Titled “Turning New Capabilities into Solutions for New Industries,” this event featured talks about PSMA’s Geoscape product, DigitalGlobe’s relationship with NTT Data, JSI in Japan, Digital India, GSMI in the Philippines, and Siwei in China. These are just a few examples of the power of our ecosystem partnerships and how our partners are integral to Seeing a Better World. My favorite sessions:

Xinthe Technologies Pvt. Ltd was honored as Partner of the Year Award (photo below). Xinthe Technologies managed the opportunity for the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh to use high-resolution stereo imagery. This success contributed significant growth, and ensured a sustainable increase in 2017 and 2018.

PSMA Australia was honored with the Deal of the Year Award. PSMA partnered with DigitalGlobe to create Geoscape, the first ever continental and countrywide infrastructure model. Geoscape is an information dataset that analyses 7.6 million square kilometers and more than 200 TB of data. Being the first to take something to market requires vision, courage and market knowledge. Download the PSMA case study.

At Americas ENGAGE Partner Conference in Houston attendees participated in solution-selling workshops and roundtable discussions, and learned how industry partners use DigitalGlobe capabilities to derive insightful, actionable information. They also networked with solution and deal-making experts; built business relationships; and discovered new tools, processes and ideas that could make a positive impact on their businesses. My favorite sessions:

Keynote by Jerry Helfand, Remote Sensing Specialist, recently retired from ExxonMobil. In his 34 years at ExxonMobil, Jerry was instrumental in paving the path forward for remote sensing technologies. He shared customer and industry perspectives and approaches to creating new opportunities in remote-sensing data and services for clients in the oil and gas industry.
“The Art of the SWIR; Using WorldView-3 for Mineral Exploration,” by Dan Taranik, Managing Director of the Exploration Mapping Group. Dan provided an informative look into the business of exploration and showed how investments in SWIR technology are providing intelligent information to improve decision-making and maintain profitable operations. Watch Dan’s webinar replay from February 22 here.
The solution-selling workshops and roundtable discussions were stimulating and informative. Participants engaged with experts on a wide range of topics, including civil mapping, natural resources, telecommunications and next-generation networks. Learn about how to plan, build and optimize denser networks, and download geodata samples here.

One key takeaway from my ENGAGE 2017 world tour is we all recognize now more than ever that our industry isn’t standing still. In that spirit, I promise to continue to connect and share to help us all to grow. I also ask that you share your story with us at explore@digitalglobe.com so we can continue to celebrate and acknowledge our successes. Here’s to the future, to not standing still and to continuing our partnership together while adapting to a rapidly changing world.

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ENGAGE 2017: A Recap

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