Changing the World with Re:Earth. A GIS Engineer’s Vision for a New Ecosystem: GIS Engineer Asahina | Eukarya Observation Log

Turning Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into a space for open collaboration —

This is the spirit behind Re:Earth, an ecosystem that continuously evolves as diverse individuals collaborate to create, improve, and build upon it together. This movement has the potential to unlock new possibilities for the world.

Asahina-san, a GIS engineer at Eukarya, wasn’t always a specialist. She started as a complete beginner, drawn deeper into GIS through encounters with community members. Today, she’s developing an ecosystem that enables more people to harness the full potential of GIS.

We sat down with Asahina-san to talk about their hopes for the new Re:Earth ecosystem and the possibilities that lie ahead.

“I couldn’t even do the basics”: the beginnings of a GIS career

━━ Let’s start by having you tell us about your current role at Eukarya.

I’m part of the plugin team, mainly working on developing plugins for Re:Earth.

Plugins aren’t built-in features — they’re add-ons created to meet specific needs or projects.

Before Eukarya, I worked as a GIS engineer at another IT company. I joined here in July 2024.

Eukarya has many excellent engineers, but few with a GIS background. So I’m the one who often takes the lead on GIS-related projects and tasks.

━━ What do you find most fascinating about GIS?

GIS is about how people and things move through space, so in some way, everyone uses it.

Maps are used by everyone from ordinary people in their daily lives to professionals like civil engineers, researchers, and city planners. In fact, I believe virtually everyone on the planet interacts with maps in some way. It’s this universal connection that I find so fascinating.

I also think maps have limitless potential. On one hand, you have playful uses like Pokémon GO. On the other, maps can be life-saving in disaster prevention.

Even when the structure is the same — placing content on a map — the ways you can present it are infinite. That’s the fun of GIS.

━━ And on the flip side, what do you see as the challenges in GIS today?

The first step to diving into GIS is incredibly hard.

When I entered the field as a new graduate, I couldn’t even do something simple like “put a point on a map.”

Why? Because working with maps requires knowledge of geodetic systems and coordinate systems, plus data formats, libraries for displaying maps, and more. There’s a huge amount of prerequisite knowledge.

On top of that, you also need coding skills. It’s a field that demands a lot of different abilities.

In my case, I was learning programming and GIS at the same time, so it took a long time to catch up. I studied intensively to acquire all those skills

Finding keys to unlock the GIS world

━━ What helped you push through those challenges?

For me, community made all the difference.

Learning from knowledgeable people was the fastest way to learn, and the best way to catch up.

In the beginning, I went to FOSS4G events (focused on open-source GIS software) as many as I could. I joined Social Hack Day, an event by Code for Japan, where I built web maps.

Through those experiences, I got to know core members of OSGeo Japan (the local chapter of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation). Eventually, I started helping with organizing, and they even asked me “Would you like to become a board member?”, which was so sudden haha.

But I understand that not everyone can be active and passionate about gaining those skills and experiences. Sometimes people face various limitations — whether it’s time constraints, financial challenges, or educational backgrounds.

With the new Re:Earth ecosystem, I want to lower those barriers.

━━ What do you mean by that?

For example, with the Re:Earth Visualizer, you can easily upload and visualize data. Normally, creating map content from scratch means building an entire environment, which is really tough. But with the Re:Earth Visualizer, anyone can start right away.

There’s also Re:Earth CMS, a headless CMS (content management system) that lets you manage and distribute data without having to set up a database or server yourself. GIS datasets are often large, and distributing them can cost a lot. So I think this will make even experienced GIS professionals happy.

And right now we’re developing Re:Earth Flow, which will allow for data transformation with no coding or setup needed.

Until now, getting started with GIS required specialized knowledge and numerous software installations. With the Re:Earth ecosystem, we’re breaking down these barriers so that more people can easily enter the world of GIS.

Seeing Eukarya and Re:Earth through a GIS engineer’s eyes

━━ When you worked at another IT company as a GIS engineer, what did you think of Eukarya and Re:Earth?

When the original Re:Earth launched in 2017, I was shocked to be honest.

It felt so modern. Re:Earth used React and TypeScript on the frontend, and Go (with some Rust) on the backend. To me, those were the kinds of tools that cool, cutting-edge web companies were using. It gave off a shiny, new vibe.

At that time, most GIS companies were still using older technologies like Python, Java, or C#. So Eukarya’s boldness and willingness to try new things stood out to me.

Also, at FOSS4G events, I often saw Eukarya’s overseas members on stage. In Japan’s GIS industry, it’s rare for a company to have so many international members and English speakers. I always thought, “This company is different — something special.”

Back then I couldn’t speak English, but was thinking “I really need to learn someday.” When I considered Eukarya, I realized, “If I join this company, I’ll have no choice but to grow.” That thought really energized me, haha.

━━ Since joining, is there a project that left a strong impression on you?

Yes — there was a municipality that said, “We’re collecting crowd data at events and summer festivals, but we don’t know how to analyze or use it.”

We created a Re:Earth plugin that animated people’s movements over time. With that visualization, they could see “This area is crowded at this time, so maybe we should adjust the flow here.”

It wasn’t just technically interesting — it showed how GIS could directly inform policy and planning.

Re:Earth Visualizer uses Cesium as its map engine, which supports CZML data. That allows us to show changes over time, like crowd flows or flooding. Few GIS tools can animate time-series data, so it was powerful.

Even better, the municipality staff said, “This is something other cities could use too.” They resonated with our open & public philosophy. Now we’re discussing how to make the plugin openly available for anyone.

With the new Re:Earth ecosystem, we’ve introduced a plan where it’s free to use if it’s open & public. I hope we can push this movement forward together with people from all kinds of backgrounds — creators and users alike.

I believe that maps and open source/open data are an excellent match.

━━ Why do you think GIS and open data are such a good match?

When people think of open data + GIS, disaster response usually comes to mind first. And that’s true — but even in everyday life, many local issues involve location information.

For example, when you’re trying to find something and the information is just in a plain text list, it’s hard to grasp. But if you see it visualized one on a map, you understand instantly, and the solution becomes clear.

━━ True. The other day, I was struggling to find a place near the station to store my large suitcase.

Exactly! If that kind of everyday data is shared — not just by governments but also companies and citizens — it can help so many people.

The possibilities that openness unlocks

━━ How do you feel about Re:Earth’s rebirth as an open data platform?

The fact that data is open — “anyone can use it when something happens” — creates tremendous value by itself.

Many local governments now release open data, and its use has expanded well beyond government circles.

For example, during the Atami landslide, Shizuoka Prefecture had released 3D point cloud data of the terrain. Thanks to that, volunteers from industry, academia, and government formed the “Shizuoka Point Cloud Support Team,” analyzed the data, and within hours identified the man-made embankment that caused the collapse, as well as estimated the landslide volume.

Another big benefit of openness is that data can be corrected and improved together. Open data isn’t always 100% accurate. Mistakes happen. But because it’s open, many eyes can review it. People can say, “This part is wrong,” and gradually the quality gets better and better.

We saw this with Project PLATEAU, when Eukarya introduced PLATEAU CMS. Before, updates relied on engineers. With the CMS, non-engineers could update data, making corrections much faster. If citizens reported an error, we could fix it and publish the corrected data within weeks.

That open & public philosophy carries into the new Re:Earth CMS too. And we’re aiming for even more interactive exchanges between data providers and users.

No software is free of bugs. No open dataset is free of mistakes.

But because it’s open, people help fix it, improve it, care for it. That’s where the true value lies. Though Eukarya is a company, it operates with a community-like atmosphere that suits me perfectly.

The new logo reflects this same spirit — I love its organic, soft shape that resembles a living organism.

Riding the wave of transformation

━━ Looking back now, what does working at Eukarya mean to you?

For a long time, GIS was a domain filled with concepts only specialists could understand, and people simply accepted that ordinary individuals couldn’t build GIS systems on their own. But the Re:Earth ecosystem has made numerous things possible, bringing GIS much closer to people who have no prior knowledge of it.

The tools keep evolving: Re:Earth Visualizer supports more data formats and flexible styling. Re:Earth CMS extends the ways data can be used. Re:Earth Flow is on its way, making automatic data transformation possible.

Step by step, the barriers are falling. People who know nothing about GIS will still be able to transform data, visualize it, and manage it over time. That’s such a huge change.

I feel like I’m right in the middle of a great wave of change, watching it grow every day.

I’d be thrilled if anyone reading this would join us — sign up for Re:Earth, and become part of the ecosystem!

━━ What are your hopes for Eukarya and the GIS field going forward?

In GIS, rich visual expression is still rare. Animations, shadows, lighting, atmospheric effects — those aren’t common in current GIS engines.

That’s why I’m so excited about the next-generation map engine Eukarya is working on.

I’ve been involved a little, and once it’s integrated into Re:Earth — and released as open source — I truly think it could spark a revolution in the GIS industry.

Honestly, I hope it becomes the de facto standard. I can’t wait to show it for everyone.

Connections, co-creation, and lasting impact

━━ Finally, on a personal level, what vision or goals do you hold?

Coming from a GIS background, I want GIS knowledge to spread more within the company, and raise the overall level. The field evolves every day, so we all need to keep learning and catching up.

I already organize monthly study sessions, share updates on Slack, and connect colleagues to events — but I want to do even more.

━━ You’re also deeply involved in communities like OSGeo. Do you see connections between that and your role here?

Absolutely. The value of human connection is huge.

I’m actually an introvert at heart — but precisely because of that, I’ve pushed myself to join many events and communities. Since joining Eukarya, I’ve made it a point to talk to as many people as possible, whether in projects or casual chats like, “Hey, did you change your hairstyle?,” or “Did you see that movie?”

There are so many incredible people in this company — I want to connect with each one of them.

And I want newcomers, whether in Re:Earth or Eukarya, to feel welcome. If I can be a bridge — introducing people to each other, making it easier for them to settle in — I’ll be happy.

My journey was shaped by actively seeking connections and embracing communities. Now I want to help others forge similar paths, creating those bridges both within Eukarya and in the wider community.