April 2016 Summaries

This year's FOSS4G-NA conference will take place in Raleigh, NC from May 2-5, bringing together a community of contributors, adopters, users, extenders, teachers, service providers, consumers, businesses, and research organizations to share expertise and learn from each other. CartoDB will be in attendance with its team, including Mamata Akella, Stuart Lynn, and Santiago Giraldo, who will give insightful talks on topics such as data mapping. The conference is a celebration of the collaborative nature of open source technology that underpins our modern internet.

The LA Times created a data visualization of every shot Kobe Bryant made during his 20-year career, using CartoDB and Python to map over 30,000 shots onto a map. The visualization shows the location where each shot was taken, including distance from the basket and opponent's identity, with tooltips providing additional information when hovered over. The LA Times chose CartoDB for its ability to handle large amounts of data without straining readers' browsers, particularly on mobile devices. The project drew significant web traffic, becoming the most viewed page on the site upon launch, and has been a key part of the paper's coverage of Kobe's retirement.

The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team has been instrumental in generating spatial data through initiatives such as OpenStreetMap, reframing the ways in which organizations and individuals collectively generate maps. The team recently partnered with CartoDB for a mapping session to provide critical geographic data to NGOs and individuals responding to humanitarian crises. This effort aims to improve crisis response efforts by making tools and resources accessible to communities in need. In support of this initiative, CartoDB has launched its Grants for Good program, which provides robust grants to organizations working on humanitarian relief efforts. Additionally, the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team is engaging with other organizations such as Digital Globe to release crowdsourced data layers and imagery, further expanding the reach of their mapping efforts. A benefit concert titled Coming Home will also be held to support the team's disaster mapping work.

CartoDB is proud sponsor of Xamarin Evolve, the largest gathering of Xamarin developers. Xamarin is a unified software framework that allows programs written in different languages to run on multiple platforms, including iOS and Android devices. It provides fast performance and development time compared to other solutions like JS/HTML5-based ones. CartoDB's Nutiteq map component is available for Xamarin developers, offering 100% of the same features as direct Android and iOS APIs, with an API that can be used across both platforms, allowing developers to write their code once and run it everywhere.

The new Ambassadors are here, and they have something to tell you Last year's Ambassadors Program started as an experiment, but it grew rapidly due to the talent and passion of its members. The program is now expanding to provide more community support, including attending workshops, meetups, and conferences, as well as exposure on social networks and blogs. New Ambassador accounts will also feature additional benefits, such as 50 free isolines/month. In return for these perks, Ambassadors are asked to create amazing maps with CartoDB and share them with the world. The program is built by the community and for the community, with a focus on feedback and collaboration.

CartoDB is excited to partner with OSGeo Japan and Pacific Spatial Solutions for a trip to Tokyo, where Javier de la Torre and Jaime de Mora will engage with the international CartoDB community and new potential cities and organizations interested in location data. The mission aims to promote CartoDB and location intelligence, allowing users to discuss and learn about the platform during scheduled meetings or events such as GeoGeoWest: A research and educators CartoDB Night. OSGeo Japan has been instrumental in popularizing open source projects in the geospatial industry, and this partnership is expected to bring exciting news relevant to Japan's community, with the event schedule set to reveal more details about the trip.

The Maps SDK by CartoDB includes a routing API that enables users to find the fastest path between any number of points and get route and turn instructions. The routing API works on both online and offline modes, with similar APIs for all platforms including iOS, Android, and Xamarin. Offline routing requires pre-downloading map packages, which can be downloaded by selecting a specific data source and package ID. This process involves downloading larger files compared to the original map packages, such as 117MB for New York's US-NY-routing data package. The developer guide is available at https://developer.nutiteq.com/guides/routing, and code samples are provided for iOS, Android, and Xamarin platforms.

What is Big Data?` Big data refers to a situation where the amount of data exceeds an organization's storage or analysis capacity, making it difficult for accurate and efficient decision-making. The true value lies in harvesting this data for fast fact-based decisions that lead to real business value. Experts say that 80% of data has a spatial component, but organizations often struggle to analyze it due to the sheer volume of data and lack of context. CartoDB is a business intelligence tool designed to visualize and analyze large datasets, providing insights and improving decision-making through location intelligence.