The Nokia subsidiary Here is launching a community mapping pilot program in India.
This will mark the first instance of the firm combining its industrial data collection methods with a crowd mapping initiative.
The firm’s aim is to combine highly advanced industrial capture methods with contributions from residents of local communities in order to ensure that its maps provide precise and locally relevant information.
With a team of more than 1,000 people in India, the regional Here will work directly with local experts from more than a dozen universities around the country, such as Mount Carmel College in Bangalore and the SAL Institute of Technology in Ahmedabad. Using Map Creator, a Here tool that allows people to add missing streets, bridges, points of interests (POIs) and other information to the map, these local experts can share insider knowledge of the areas.
To maintain accuracy and ensure map quality, Here has created a community map moderation system that allows edits to be verified before they are added to the base map. Once integrated, these changes will become available within days to all customers, including automakers, personal navigation device manufactures, mobile device makers and web and enterprise clients.
Given India's diverse urbanisation patterns, Here will work with a variety of communities across the country. In smaller towns and cities, locals will help Here build out road networks, while in densely populated areas contributors will provide information about points of interest and capture changes. Here has already rolled out industrial capture methods in some of these areas, but local communities can further improve and humanise its maps.
"Here aims to comprehensively and accurately map one of the most geographically diverse countries: India," said Neil Shah, Research Director, Counterpoint Research. "Here will employ its global crowdsourcing pilot program to tap the expertise of a billion Indian consumers.”
The project in India is part of an ongoing series of pilot programs that Here is using to enhance its community mapping capabilities and tap the knowledge of local experts.
"Sophisticated mapmaking is already a human- and capital-intensive business. Add to this the fact that the world around us is constantly evolving with the addition of new roads, new infrastructure and even new names, and cartographers simply can't keep up," said Michael Halbherr, EVP of Here.
