The Overture open-mapping project
OpenStreetMap tends to dominate the space for open mapping data, but it is not the only project working in this area. At the 2024 Open Source Summit Japan, Marc Prioleau presented the Overture Maps Foundation, which is building and distributing a set of worldwide maps under open licenses. Overture may have a similar goal to OpenStreetMap, but its approach and intended uses are significantly different.
Once upon a time, not too long ago, Prioleau began, map making was mostly done by surveying — sending somebody out to measure where things were. That has changed over the last couple of decades with the advent of location-aware mobile devices; map making is now driven by sensors, not surveyors. That has changed the nature of maps and how they are used; Overture Maps was created to take advantage of (and support) those changes. The project is still in its early days, but it has the support of a long list of companies and is already being used by some of them.