Meta, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Dutch mapping company TomTom have joined forces with The Linux Foundation to give Google a run for its money in the maps space with the launch of the Overture Maps Foundation to build interoperable open map data. “Mapping the physical environment and every community in the world, even as they grow and change, is a massively complex challenge that no one organization can manage,” Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin said. Overture’s mission is to create an extensible mapping framework that will enable companies to contribute their own data, constantly refreshing as the physical world changes.

Today, geocentric data sets power thousands of applications, from local search and discovery to navigation, data visualization and the Internet of Things.

“Spatial mapping will also be vital to emerging technologies such as those required for the metaverse” and augmented reality, writes TechCrunch, quoting Maps at Meta engineering director Jan Erik Solem saying “immersive experiences, which understand and blend into your physical environment, are critical to the embodied Internet of the future. By delivering interoperable open map data, Overture provides the foundation for an open metaverse built by creators, developers, and businesses alike.”

The Overture data will be open and extensible by all under an open data license aimed at driving innovation by enabling a network of communities that can then build apps and services on top, the partners said in an announcement. In addition to collaborative map building, engaging a wide range of stakeholders, Overture promises to:

• Simplify interoperability with a “global entity reference system” that links different data to the same real-world entities.
• Employ stringent quality assurance, with rigorous validation measures “to detect map errors, breakage, and vandalism to help ensure that map data can be used in production systems.”
• Drive standards by defining and documenting a common schema that fosters an inviting and easy-to-use mapping ecosystem.

TechCrunch describes Google as “a notable omission” at Big Tech’s geospatial pow-wow, noting that “such big names and rivals from the technology sphere are coming together in partnership is probably testament to the stranglehold Google has on the world of mapping, a position it has slowly garnered since launching its Android mobile operating system nearly 15 years ago.”

The emergence of Overture comes as technology gravitates toward “decentralized and interoperable social networks driven by regulatory and societal pressures,” says TechCrunch, citing The Linux Foundation’s recent launch of the OpenWallet Foundation “to develop interoperable digital wallets, pushing back against the closed payment ecosystems fostered by tech juggernauts including Google and Apple.”

Related:
Google Maps Chief Sees New Directions for Digital Navigation, The Wall Street Journal, 12/28/22