Overture Maps Foundation Workshop

Theme: The case for open data as the backbone of Spatial Data Infrastructure

15 May 2024 // 1130-1230 hrs | Hall - Penn

Speakers

Amy Rose

Technical Director
Overture Maps Foundation
USA

Marc Prioleau

Executive Director
Overture Maps Foundation
USA

Mark Varley

CEO
Addresscloud

Nick Land

Lead Business Development Manager
National Mapping & Cadastre - Esri

Siavash Shakeri

Maps Product Manager
TomTom

Overview

As spatial data proliferates into every sector, the cost and complexity of data conflation are also exploding. With no standard way to associate data to map entities and no agreement even on the basemap to which that data is conflated, the industry is stuck with inefficiency, redundant effort, and, worst of all, lower impact. It is time to rethink this on a global scale.

Overture Maps Foundation proposes a new model based on two premises. First, the base layers that support the spatial data should be open source. They need to be highly accurate, complete but most importantly available for use by anyone under open permissive licenses. Second, the entities in those base layers should have unique, persistent, and open identifiers that can be used to conflate any data (open or proprietary) to the baselayer in a clear unambiguous way. This is a fundamental reset of the current model of proprietary data and conflicting standards but, once successful, can reframe the geospatial industry to meet its potential.

In this workshop, Marc Prioleau (Executive Director) and Dr. Amy Rose (Technical Director) will present an overview of Overture maps and the Global Entity Reference System (GERS) that can join disparate data sets into a common infrastructure. We're pleased to welcome partners from three leading companies—AddressCloud, Esri, and TomTom—who will demonstrate the practical applications of this framework in their mapping efforts. Join us to learn how you can leverage GERS to enhance your geospatial projects.