Ian White 
Chief Executive Officer | Urban Mapping, Inc.
San Francisco, CA, UNITED STATES
Energetic and engaging thought leader on enterprise mapping and big data solutions
Biography
Ian founded Urban Mapping in 2001 and has grown the company to profitability. He has 20 years experience in marketing strategy and product development. His past clients include Harvard University, General Motors, Trader Joe's, Xerox Corporation, Parsons School of Design, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. White has served as Adjunct Professor at Parsons School of Design. He is also the co-author of a chapter in "Next Generation Business Handbook" published by Wiley, and an article in The Journal of Business Venturing. He is an active speaker in the area of geospatial data and local search. Ian holds an MBA from Babson College and a BA from McGill University and was educated in the US, France and Ireland.
Industry Expertise (3)
Information Services
Government Relations
Information Technology and Services
Areas of Expertise (2)
Government 1.5: Open Data and the Transparency Myth
The Problem (And Opportunity) of Big Data
Education (2)
McGil University: BA, Political Science 1993
Babson College: MBA, Masters of Business Administration 2000
Links (1)
Sample Talks (1)
The Problem (and Opportunity) of Big Data
The era of big data presents incredible opportunities -- smarter cities, stronger companies, faster medicine -- but just as many challenges. Storage is scarce, systems overloaded, governments and businesses know too much. The world now contains unimaginably vast amounts of digital information, which is growing exponentially. Managed well, this data can be used to engineer new engines of economic value, unlock scientific breakthroughs, and hold politicians accountable. Managed poorly, it can cause great harm. The financial crisis showed that complex models that analyze large quantities of data do not always reflect financial risk in the real world. The financial crisis was sparked by big data -- and there will be others. But the data deluge will also generate millions of new ideas for how to solve big problems, build new markets, and expand existing ones
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