TomTom CTO: 'We've made a profound technical breakthrough'

The mapping software company is integrating open data from OpenStreetMap with sensor observations in what Eric Bowman claims will be a game-changer

TomTom is preparing to launch Maps Platform, a cloud based service that will integrate OpenStreetMap (OSM), the open source mapping platform that's updated by its community of users, as well as sensor data from cars and other sources. This, says CTO Eric Bowman, will allow the Amsterdam-based software company and its customers to build more detailed maps that update much more quickly and support a wider range of data types.

"There's been a real vision to use the Internet of Things of SatNav devices and to use that feedback loop to make a much better map," said Bowman, adding that the new Maps Platform is the culmination of many years of R&D. "Recently, we've added the super sources, or sensor derived observations, that help us understand road signs and real-time hazards."

TomTom is still probably best known as a provider of consumer GPS systems; it released its first satnav units a couple of decades ago. In the intervening years, cloud services including Google Maps and Waze have eaten into this market, but Bowman insists the new Maps Platform will open up a whole new range of use cases and map types, without becoming a walled garden like those examples. Open data is a big part of that plan.

Maps Platform, which is planned for release in 2023, combines TomTom's own data with sensor data from connected cars (the ‘super sources'), GPS traffic information from vehicles and open source mapping data from OSM. It's extensible to other mapping data sources, too. The aim, the company says, is to create "the smartest map of the planet".

New mapping services based on the platform will initially be aimed at delivery and ride-sharing companies, "like last mile delivery and all of these businesses, they really only work with the best and the freshest maps," said Bowman. That's because these services are highly optimised and any new roadworks or localised delays can eat into profits. By integrating car sensor data, which can recognise road signs including those indicating speed restrictions, these local maps can be updated in near real time.

Fleet car companies are another target market, and TomTom's existing partners such as Apple and Microsoft will likely be early users of the platform too.

Integrating OpenStreetMap

OSM data is covered by the ODbL open source licence, which is a ‘share-alike' scheme. Under that licence, anyone can use OSM data to make a map and can offer that map under any licence they choose, provided that they share any data enhancements they have made back to OSM. TomTom's mapping data and code are proprietary, and likely to remain that way, said Bowman, but the company will improve OSM by contributing back.

One area that could be improved is search, for example, which is where Google makes good use of its advertising business to provide street level addresses. Another is coverage, which on OSM can be patchy in less populated regions; a third area is scaling updates to the maps.

"We see a lot of value in contributing to OSM and improving it for everyone, and then increasingly standardising on something that's like the very core of how OSM represents the base map. We see this as an innovation creator across lots of industries. There's a fragmentation that we see now between Google Maps and other forms of map, where they're all different and they're closed. By starting to open the core infrastructure of the map, we see that as a tremendous value generator for our customers, for us and for the OSM community. It's a kind of win-win-win."

‘A profound technical breakthrough'

TomTom's map database is a graph. Graph databases are great for creating links between entities, but difficult to reason over, Bowman said, adding that TomTom has made "a significant architectural breakthrough" in this area.

"For a social network and for a search engine it's okay if you can't see everybody that you need to see or if not every single thing can be found. But when it comes to representing the world, it is a harder problem because those kinds of simplifications can actually damage the map and that could have commercial ramifications, or mean that someone doesn't get rescued.

"But at the core, we've had, I think, a very significant architectural breakthrough and what I believe is a very novel architecture which will allow us to scale how people add to the map, essentially infinitely. We don't really see a limit, whereas previously that was a significant bottleneck for all mapmakers. We've had a quite a profound technical breakthrough, which we think our competitors will have a difficult time replicating."