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GSCW chat recap: Spatial data and future of intelligent supply chains

‘I’m not just seeing my whole segment of the supply chain. I’m seeing how it relates to demand and supply. All those things are spatial in my world.’

Jack Dangermond, founder and president of Esri, (right) talks with Jonathan Rosenthal, CEO of Saybrook Management, during a fireside chat at FreightWaves Global Supply Chain Week.

This fireside chat recap is from Day 6 of FreightWaves’ Global Supply Chain Week. Day 6 focuses on global maritime logistics.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: The intelligent nervous system of global distribution 

DETAILS: Geographic information systems (GIS) already have transformed how global supply chains function. GIS pioneer Jack Dangermond discusses how GIS – and spatial data – will bring a new level of visibility and efficiency during a fireside chat with Jonathan Rosenthal, CEO of Saybrook Management.

SPEAKER: Dangermond is the founder and president of Esri


BIO: Dangermond is a world-renowned expert and pioneer in GIS. He founded Esri in 1969. The company has transformed how geographic and spatial data are used and has more than 1 million users in the public and private sectors, including the transportation industry.  Dangermond is currently focusing on helping organizations use GIS data in enterprise environments. 

KEY QUOTES FROM DANGERMOND

“When we look at the planet, lots of changes are happening very quickly. What’s missing is a kind of nervous system for us to respond at a social level or an organizational level.”

“Geographic information systems are transforming our world — letting people see, through maps and spatial models, the whole context differently. I’m not just seeing my whole segment of the supply chain, I’m seeing how it relates to demand and supply. All those things are spatial in my world. So connecting them all together, sorting them out so I can actually see it and talk about it and understand it – that’s the big thing.” 

“We have to as a society learn to do more with less. Picking up that additional 15% or 25% by doing what UPS or FedEx does routing their trucks better – wow, that saves 25% of fuel and pollution.”

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Nate Tabak

Nate Tabak is a Toronto-based journalist and producer who covers cybersecurity and cross-border trucking and logistics for FreightWaves. He spent seven years reporting stories in the Balkans and Eastern Europe as a reporter, producer and editor based in Kosovo. He previously worked at newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the San Jose Mercury News. He graduated from UC Berkeley, where he studied the history of American policing. Contact Nate at [email protected].