Amazon Web Services (AWS), Meta, Microsoft, and TomTom launch the Overture Maps Foundation, under the Linux Foundation. The objective is to create an open and interoperable cartographic database.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Meta, Microsoft and TomTom are uniting in hopes of overshadowing Google Maps. The three tech giants and the firm known for its GPS navigators have launched the Overture Maps Foundation, under the aegis of the Linux Foundation.
The initiative will focus on creating open and interoperable map data. The stated objective is to facilitate the existence of scalable, complete and up-to-date mapping solutions. Published under an open license, the data will be freely accessible and adaptable. The idea is to encourage creativity in the field of online mapping and pave the way for the formation of a network of communities around open data for the development of new services.
In the statement from the Linux Foundation, the initiators of this new alliance throw peaks at Google, although not embarrassed, believing that no entity is capable of tackling alone the enormous complexity of the task of mapping the entire physical world.
Complementary to OpenStreetMap
Overture aims to incorporate data from multiple sources, including foundation members, public organizations, and open data sources. The announcement from the Linux Foundation notably cites the OpenStreetMap (OSM) collaborative project. In its FAQ, Overture states that it positions itself as a data-centric cartographic project, and not as a community of map editors. “Therefore, Overture is intended to be complementary to OSM. We combine OSM with other sources to produce new open map datasets. Overture data will be available for use by the OpenStreetMap community,” reads the FAQ.
Overture further clarifies that its ambition is to simplify interoperability with a system that relies on entities from different datasets to the same entities in the real world. In addition, a quality assurance process will be put in place to detect all errors and inaccuracies.