A group made up of technological giants such as Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and the mapping company TomTom, has been conspired to challenge the dominance of Google Maps and Apple Maps in the world of GPS mapping and navigation. The Overture Maps Foundation has announced the release of its first open map dataset, which could allow developers to create their own mapping apps and compete with today’s powerhouses.
The data set presented includes no less than 59 million “points of interest” worldwideranging from restaurants to tourist spots, and provides comprehensive information on transportation networks and administrative boundaries.
Marc Prioleau, Executive Director of the Overture Maps Foundation, has highlighted the importance of this release, calling it a significant step in establishing a quality open map dataset in an ever-changing world. Their “Places Dataset” thus presents itself as an invaluable resource by providing detailed information on new businesses, street markets, events, etc. from any part of the planet, to all those developers who want to integrate this information into their application.
The benefits of this movement are not only limited to developers, but also seek to democratize access to high-quality mapping data and reduce costs. Developers currently have to pay to access the Google Maps API, and while Apple allows free access to Apple Maps for native apps, web app developers still have to incur additional costs.
From the Overture Maps Foundation, the importance of continuing to expand this data set in the future has been emphasized. It is expected to include more and more places, more complete navigation information, and even 3D building data. Although the final consumer probably continues to trust Apple and Google solutions, this could mark a before and after for industries such as the automobile industry, logistics, or the integration of this information into Big Data tools, which until now depended on the great technologies in this field.
