Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta have come together under the Overture Maps Foundation, a collaborative initiative launched in December 2022 to develop open and interoperable map data. This project, hosted by the Linux Foundation, aims to challenge Google’s dominance in online mapping by providing a robust alternative. Over the past year, the foundation has been releasing early previews of its datasets, culminating in the first beta release in April. As of Wednesday, the foundation has officially launched four key open datasets: buildings, places, divisions, and base, marking a significant milestone in this collaborative effort.
Maps are composed of various layers that serve different purposes, and the Overture Maps Foundation’s current releases reflect this diversity. The buildings dataset includes 2.3 billion building footprints globally, while the places dataset encompasses 54 million notable points of interest. The divisions dataset provides visual overlays of boundaries such as countries, regions, cities, and neighborhoods. The base dataset covers land and water features, including physical infrastructure like communication towers and bridges. Another main dataset, transportation, remains in beta, and a new addresses dataset, covering 200 million addresses across 14 countries, is in its alpha phase.
The Overture Maps Foundation’s core steering committee includes high-profile members such as Microsoft, AWS, Meta, and TomTom. Other contributing members include Esri, Hyundai, Niantic, and TripAdvisor. Notably absent is Google, which is unsurprising given the foundation’s goal of providing an alternative to Google’s mapping services. The foundation leverages a variety of data sources, including open datasets from projects like OpenStreetMap, government sources, internal proprietary data from member companies, and even some datasets released by Google under an open access license, such as Open Buildings.
Combining these diverse datasets is a complex task due to differences in formats, structures, and standards. The process, known as conflation, involves checking and de-duplicating the data to ensure consistency and accuracy. Marc Prioleau, the executive director of the Overture Maps Foundation, emphasized the challenges involved, such as dealing with different names, misspellings, and geographical misalignments. OpenStreetMap plays a crucial role in providing data for the foundation, along with open datasets from governments and municipalities. Corporate members also contribute significantly by sharing their in-house data. For instance, Meta has shared its Facebook places data, enhancing the foundation’s dataset with comprehensive information about various locations.
Prioleau, who has extensive experience in the mapping and location industry from roles at Mapbox, Uber, and Meta, leads the foundation alongside Amy Rose, who joined as technical director. The foundation operates with a small core team of two full-time employees and about ten contractors handling various tasks. Additionally, the Linux Foundation provides some engineering support. Member companies contribute around 100 people, who participate in engineering and product management tasks as needed.
Prioleau highlighted the collaborative nature of the project, stating, “When our companies [members] come in, we really emphasize that this is not a spectator sport — it’s a participation sport.” This collective effort underscores the foundation’s mission to create a comprehensive and open alternative to existing online mapping services, fostering innovation and competition in the mapping industry.
By pooling resources and expertise, the Overture Maps Foundation aims to build a robust and versatile mapping platform that can be used for various applications. This initiative not only challenges the dominance of current market leaders but also promotes an open-source approach that can benefit a wide range of users, from developers and businesses to government agencies and individual consumers. The foundation’s collaborative model ensures that the data and tools developed are continuously improved and kept up-to-date. This approach enables rapid adaptation to new technological advancements and user needs, ensuring the platform remains relevant and useful in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
In summary, the Overture Maps Foundation represents a significant step forward in the mapping industry, bringing together major tech players to create an open, interoperable, and innovative mapping solution. Through this collective effort, the foundation aims to democratize access to high-quality map data, stimulate competition, and drive the next wave of advancements in digital mapping technology.