📩 Get every update from my newsletter ➡️ https://forrest.nyc ⬅️
💨 Sign up for the Spatial Lab Community ➡️ https://forrest.nyc/spatial-lab ⬅️

Why is geospatial data still stuck in its own world — and what will it take to finally integrate it with the rest of the data ecosystem?

In this episode, I talk with Javier de la Torre, founder of Carto and one of the original architects of modern spatial analytics. We explore the history of GIS as a siloed discipline, the cost that isolation has had on the industry (and professionals), and how open formats like GeoParquet are finally changing the game.

Javier shares his journey from biodiversity research to building Carto, insights from working with major cloud platforms, and the behind-the-scenes story of how geospatial data became a first-class citizen in the analytics world.

If you've ever wrestled with incompatible file formats, siloed teams, or the slow pace of innovation in GIS — this conversation will feel like a breath of fresh air.

We cover:

Why GIS has been isolated for decades
The hidden costs of geospatial silos
How GeoParquet was born — and what it changes
What it means to make spatial data “just a join away”
The future of cloud-native geospatial

Subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of spatial, data, and innovation.