Federal Tech Talk

Current trends in satellite communications

Chris Tucker, chairman of the American Geographical Society and author of "A Planet of 3 Billion," discusses some of the current trends in getting data from sat...

John Gilroy

October 29, 2019 8:11 am

1 min read

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This week on Federal Tech Talk, host John Gilroy interviewed Chris Tucker, author of the book A Planet of 3 Billion. He has a strong background in topics that impact federal information technology leaders.

Tucker has been involved in the areas of strategy, geography, and national security from the perspective of space and satellites. In addition to holding a Ph.D. from Columbia University, he is also the chairman of the American Geographical Society and his background includes a stint at In-Q-Tel.

Head shot of Chris Tucker — Chris Tucker

Federal agencies who deal with defense, agriculture, and weather are organizations who have a tremendous interest in geographical information. Tucker talked about some of the current trends in getting data from satellites to the ground.

He concluded the interview with a reference to his latest book, “A Planet of 3 Billion.” His thesis is that we have passed the point of sustainability and he gives his idea of an optimal population. The book reinforced his idea with maps and data that assemble information from a wide variety of sources.

Listen to the interview to learn about current trends in satellite communications. You may want to investigate his controversial thesis as well.