Katie Picchione

On the agenda

• When It's Go Time

  Nov. 18 '26, 03:00pm Panel Lower Level 2

  From the Ebola response to the Colombia-Venezuela earthquakes to the Nepal floods, the same cycle keeps repeating: the imagery could have changed everything if only it had reached the right hands in time. This session asks what it will actually take to break that cycle, so imagery shows up early enough to help save the day instead of just documenting it afterward

• Clash of the Damage Data!

  Nov. 19 '26, 10:00am Workshop Council Room

  Satellite-based damage data was a critical resource for first responders on the ground following the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela in June 2026. However, after the response settled, we observed a stark contradiction: the damage data sources showed high disagreement and generally reached different damage status conclusions on the building-level, even when using the same underlying remote sensing data. This 1 hour, 15 minute interactive workshop will feature lightning talk-style presentations from a panel of experts involved in the humanitarian response following the earthquakes in Venezuela. This will be followed by a brainstorming session where participants can contribute their expertise to help the humanitarian sector as a whole find ways to improve processes for the next response. This workshop is intended for EO practitioners working on damage mapping in either natural hazard or armed conflict scenarios. Each expert presenter will offer to workshop attendees a prompt or call to action for how to improve analytical workflows and processes moving forward so that we can better support life-saving efforts on the ground in the future.

  Workshop space is limited. Sign-up will happen in-person when you check in for the conference.