This week I have a conversation with Jada Andersen, Chief Product Officer and co-founder of Xylo Systems. Xylo Systems is setting out to be the central data hub for all global biodiversity information.
We chat about information silos, the huge variety in conservation data, bridging the gaps between that world and tech, how anyone from individuals to corporations can get involved, and the beautiful goal to go out of business.
Jada and co-founder Camille Goldstone-Henry recently launched their beta product and completed the Startmate Accelerator program alongside our previous guest Billy. They are currently in discussions with the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and Bush Heritage. At the time of publishing this episode, Camille has also just wrapped up presenting at Purpose Conference.
To find out more about existing clients, joining as a new client, or even just contributing data, you can get in touch with Jada by emailing jada[@]xylosystems.org
Links
iNaturalist, a hub for citizen science and one of Xylo’s many data sources
A quick “what is citizen science?” summary (Article | 5 mins)
The Atlas of Living Australia, an open source biodiversity data hub specific to Australia
The Wolf Restoration project in Yellowstone National Park, and a summary of the resulting ecological changes (Article | 10 mins)
Biodiversity offsets and issues surrounding them (Article | 6 mins)
How biodiversity offsets should work, by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (Article | 7 mins)
The $44 Trillion figure and how it is dependent on ecosystem strength and diversity (Article | 11 mins)
A map of Indigenous Australian land and sea management projects
Show notes
[00:01:32] - [First question] – What is Xylo Systems and what are your goals?
[00:03:34] - The manual and siloed nature of biodiversity data collection
[00:05:22] - How Jada met co-founder Camille and got Xylo started
[00:07:20] - Jada’s background and how it was a unique fit for this space
[00:08:42] - Entering the accelerator and learning how hard they could push themselves
[00:10:31] - Where Xylo sources its data from and contextual relevance of that data
[00:12:45] - How in-person data capture can change results significantly
[00:13:45] - Automatically digitizing historical data, and why that’s needed
[00:15:28] - Practices and platforms to ingest informal “citizen science” data
[00:16:55] - How someone can get involved with citizen science
[00:18:39] - What a Xylo customer would see right now
[00:20:31] - Understanding the root problems on a project-by-project basis, in order to make projections accurately
[00:23:23] - “Security by design” across the platform, considering the value of the data
[00:24:48] - Practices to limit double handling of data collection
[00:26:04] - Building a new frontier of climate change accounting with corporations
[00:27:56] - Why Xylo’s first targets are in the construction industry
[00:29:30] - What a corporate client could do with Xylo data
[00:31:05] - Measures of success for a corporation and speaking in financial terms
[00:32:15] - The economic value reliant on biodiversity
[00:33:10] - Shaping the next steps based on customer feedback
[00:34:32] - Working closer with and learning from Indigenous Australian conservation organizations
[00:36:07] - Expansion of the team, sophistication of the data, and into other countries
[00:37:47] - The goal to grow their way out of business
[00:38:51] - Jada and Camille’s personal commitment to seeing it through
[00:40:23] - Getting in touch with Xylo - website and emails
Episode 5 - The data behind 44 trillion dollars