--- title: Meta, Microsoft team up on map nonprofit - The Hustle description: Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon are all partners in a collaborative, interoperable map project. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/799858659-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-16T014636.683Z.webp --- # Meta, Microsoft team up on map nonprofit ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: December 16, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 The Linux Foundation, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Meta, Microsoft, and Dutch mapping company TomTom have [combined forces](https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press/linux-foundation-announces-overture-maps-foundation-to-build-interoperable-open-map-data) on a new mapping nonprofit called the [Overture Maps Foundation](https://overturemaps.org/). ![Meta, Microsoft team up on map nonprofit](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/799858659-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-16T014636.683Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=799858659-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-16T014636.683Z.webp) Its goal is to help people build new map products by offering interoperable open map data — basically, mapping data that members can use across computer systems. Data will come from: - Government agencies, like city planning departments - Existing open map data projects like OpenStreetMap (which Meta [already uses](https://stamen.com/launching-the-facebook-map-8d028c4f0e0e/#:~:text=The%20primary%20data%20behind%20this,%E2%80%9Cthe%20Wikipedia%20of%20maps%E2%80%9D.)) - [Members](https://overturemaps.org/become-a-member/), who contribute their own Membership ranges from $0 to $3m per year, depending on if it’s an individual, nonprofit, government agency, or business. #### **Why?** As Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin [told](https://venturebeat.com/virtual/creating-the-ultimate-smart-map-with-new-map-data-initiative-launched-by-linux-foundation/) *Venture Beat*, this isn’t a Google Maps that you can ask for directions. Rather, it’s mapping’s answer to open-source software. Currently, developers who want to find high-quality and up-to-date mapping data often cobble it together from various sources, all of which have their own languages and quirks. Overture’s data will live in a single place, serving as a base map that companies and developers can build on. The first data set, launching in [2023](https://overturemaps.org/resources/faq/), will include building, road, and administrative info. Over time, Overture will release other layers, like 3D building data. #### **Mapping data…** … is useful for a variety of purposes, including navigation, routing, search, and augmented and mixed reality — something Meta likely cares about given its metaverse aspirations. Notably absent: Google and Apple. They have their own maps, which, as *TechCrunch* [points out](https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/15/meta-microsoft-aws-and-tomtom-launch-the-overture-maps-foundation-to-develop-interoperable-open-map-data/), took a huge bite out of TomTom’s business as smartphones replaced GPS devices. 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