Overture Maps makes geospatial data more accessible for variety of industries

The Overture Maps Foundation, a collaborative effort to build interoperable open map data, is offering the general availability of its Global Entity Reference System (GERS)—providing a unique ID for every geospatial entity, making it easier to build richer mapping solutions across industries such as automotive, local search, urban planning, ride-sharing, logistics, and more.

Mapping applications and spatial analysis have benefited from an explosion of new data types, but that comes at a cost. Combining data from various sources requires significant time and money to ensure that the data is correctly associated with the right entities in the map.

The GERS IDs enable organizations to more easily join datasets, share information, and onboard new data using open and accessible identifiers, while avoiding the high costs and complexity of reconciling data from different sources, according to the Foundation. 

GERS IDs are a defining characteristic of Overture’s open map datasets. Each “entity” in the base maps carries a unique ID, including 2.6 billion buildings, 64 million places, nearly 447 million addresses, and 321 million road segments.

These datasets form the foundational layers for anyone building mapping applications and are governed by open source data licenses, allowing free use in applications and analyses.

By incorporating GERS IDs into any data that needs to be associated with those base layers, users can easily combine relevant data to build richer applications, the Foundation said.   

By associating data—such as population or traffic—with GERS IDs for entities such as geographic boundaries or transportation segments—companies can make data connections with simple column joins rather than complex data conflations.

“GERS will accelerate innovation by reducing the time and resources needed to get data into maps, as well as enable organizations to add rich data more cost-efficiently for improved, comprehensive analysis,” said Deane Kensok, ArcGIS Content CTO of Esri, the world-leading provider of geographic information system (GIS) software. “This will ultimately allow for more compelling map offerings that solve more problems.”

GERS is unique in the mapping industry because it is:

• Open — Other ID systems exist in mapping today, but many are controlled by a single company. Overture data and GERS IDs are open, which means anyone can use it without restrictive licensing. Data can be matched to the open base layers via GERS without risk of vendor lock-in. 
• Global — Some ID systems today are specific to a country or region, making them complex for applications that cross borders. GERS is global and works the same way worldwide. 
• Entity-based — GERS IDs refer to entities like buildings, addresses, road segments, or places. This allows data to be associated with greater specificity than IDs based on latitude and longitude.
• Enabling — The GERS framework enables application developers to track changes to data tied to unique IDs, quickly look up and locate entities through a central registry, and link internal data sources to Overture map entities using bridge files— reducing reliance on engineering resources.

“We see GERS as a major milestone in the evolution of interconnected data as it greatly extends the ecosystem of trusted, connected data available to organizations. Now, teams will be more productive, spending less time onboarding data and more time using it to drive faster, more informed decision-making,” said Dan Adams, EVP and GM of data enrichment at Precisely, which is a contributing member of Overture and has used its  Data Link partner program for linking GERS to its location, business, and consumer data to accelerate innovation and AI outcomes for leading enterprises. 

For more information about this news, visit https://overturemaps.org.