Google’s rivals on Thursday unveiled a project to make freely available datasets for map features integrated into online services.
owned by the alphabet Google dominates online maps, sells its services to other companies or platforms, and uses location and navigation capabilities to enhance its other services, including online advertising.
meta, Microsoft, tomtomand Amazon Web Services have now introduced what they call the Overture Mapping Foundation, whose goal is to make comprehensive map data publicly available for use by anyone who may need it, the nonprofit profit Linux Foundation said in a release.
“Mapping the physical environment and every community in the world, even as they evolve and change, is a hugely complex challenge that no single organization has,” said Linux Foundation CEO Jim Zemlin. which can be managed”.
“The industry needs to come together to do this for the benefit of everyone.”
Google has been conspicuously absent from the list of companies partnering in Overture, which the company says its goal is to expand membership to accelerate progress.
The alliance is expected to release its first map dataset in the middle of next year.
“Immersive experiences, understanding and mingling with your physical environment, are crucial for the internet to embody the future,” said Jan Erik Solem, technical director of Maps at Meta.
“By providing interoperable open map data, Overture provides the foundation for open metadata built by creators, developers, and businesses.”
According to the Linux Foundation, map data has underpinned applications for search, navigation, logistics, games, autonomous driving, and more.
The Overture map data will be open source, meaning developers are not only free to use it, but can also build on it, the Linux Foundation said.
