In a bold move that signifies ambitious competition against industry stalwarts, tech giants namely, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and leading mapping enterprise, TomTom have deployed their first open map dataset. This move is a remarkable achievement of the Overture Maps Foundation, a collective endeavour which the four companies established as a challenge to the dominance of Google Maps and Apple Maps.
The open map dataset is designed to empower third-party developers to conceive, design and develop their unique global mapping or navigation products. In doing so, it provides them an opportunity to set up compelling alternatives to the well-established Google and Apple Maps.
According to the Overture representatives, the extensive data release incorporates over 59 million places of interest, encasing data on edifices, transit networks, and administrative borders. The distinctive format of data layers permits developers to consume and utilize map data in a standardised, well-documented manner that ensures interoperability. Hence, this data serves as a bedrock for developers to build a mapping app or any service that is navigation-dependent. The dataset has been made conveniently accessible on the official Overture website.
The executive director of Overture, Marc Prioleau elucidates, 'The Places dataset, in particular, introduces a significant, hitherto unobtainable open dataset, bearing immense potential to map an array of new enterprises, regardless of scale, all the way to impromptu street markets situated anywhere. Overture envisions a vast collaboration that can generate and manage an up-to-the-minute, exhaustive database of points of interest.'
The advent of Overture Maps Foundation last year envisages a significant potential threat to the prevalent supremacy of Google and Apple in the domain of mapping. The ready availability of data could substantially ease the process, thereby reducing expenses for the developers in creating innovative apps. Currently, developers face the necessity of paying to gain access to Google Maps' API, on top of which Apple also levies charges from developers for creating non-native applications.
This move aligns strategically with the no-code paradigm, emulated by platforms such as AppMaster, enabling smaller enterprises and independent developers to create powerful functionality based on open-source tools and datasets. Like AppMaster, Overture aims to democratise access to tools and information, empowering users to compete with big technology giants.