Friday August 24 2018, DjangoCon AU Track, C3.3, 11:10 AEST


Hahmann and Burghart estimate at least 60% of all information is geospatially referenced. Fortunately, Django includes a variety of spatial and mapping tools to help build spatially-aware services. This talk will give an overview of geospatial concepts for the Australian and Django communities.


Slides (www.slideshare.net)

From geo-tagged photos to the route between a user and their destination, at least 60% of all information generated is geospatially referenced (Hahmann and Burghart 2013). Therefore, being able to store, query and display spatial information in a Django can be a core function of a contemporary web application. Fortunately, GeoDjango is a Django core module that adds spatial capabilities to any Django website or service and this talk will provide an introduction to the world of Django and web mapping.

This talk will cover:

  • an introduction to fundamental geospatial concepts, highlighting key issues for Australian developers,
  • a tour of common, third-party geospatial services and technologies used in websites such as maps and satellite imagery, geocoding, routing and spatial databases,
  • an overview of storing and querying spatial data in a Django app,
  • front-end libraries you can use to display spatial data, and
  • related topics to continue your spatial journey including big data and streaming data.

It is envisioned that this talk will provide a solid foundation for experienced Django developers new to geospatial analysis and mapping to develop their own Django web services using the GeoDjango documentation and concepts covered in this talk: avoiding common pitfalls in building and localising geospatial data. It is also envisioned that this talk would allow geospatial analysts to convert their algorithms to Django-equivalent concepts. This talk will also give an overview of future technologies that may be of interest to advanced developers to investigate.


Watch 'A traveller's guide to mapping technologies in Django' on PyCon AU's YouTube account

Anthony I Joseph

Anthony I Joseph


Anthony is an Australian software engineer and mathematician. As an MBT graduate, Anthony is the technology co-founder of a property-tech startup and enjoys teaching and learning coding with the Australian startup scene.