humanitarian.info

When I was working in the field more (a time I like to refer to as “the good old days”), I tried to sell the UN on the idea of using peer-to-peer file sharing as the best way of transferring large files – for example, satellite imagery and other remote sensing products. Tragically they remained unconvinced, which means that to this day satellite images are transferred to field locations using cyborg donkeys armed with lasers (or CD-ROMs).

Somebody else has therefore set up Geotorrent.org, which provides a dedicated seeding service for satellite imagery and other spatial data. It’s sponsored by ER Mapper, who are not a huge name in GIS (although there are no huge names in GIS apart from ESRI, to be honest) but whose involvement suggests they’re thinking creatively about the future of GIS.

You can read the full story from the release post on their Forum. I like this – it’s a smart application of an existing technology, it demonstrates the legitimate utility of peer-to-peer file sharing, and it offers increased access to these resources. Hat tip to Nick MacDonald.