As Overture Maps Foundation grows the ecosystem to 50 members, that milestone is really a story about the people and organizations behind it. From government agencies streamlining how they share local data, to research foundations advancing disaster resilience, to companies grounding AI in real-world places, Overture’s members bring a wide range of perspectives to a shared mission: building open, interoperable spatial data that anyone can use and trust.
We asked some of our members why they support Overture and why open geospatial data matters to the future they’re building. Here’s what they had to say:
“The world of mapping and data distribution for government agencies has completely changed. People expect local data to appear quickly across the platforms they use every day. Overture helps reduce the burden of maintaining multiple formats, allowing us to spend more time improving our data instead of transforming it.” – Ryan Lopez, Senior IT Analyst, Fresno County
“Reducing disaster risk depends on reliable, consistent geospatial data about the built environment and the communities it supports. The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation is proud to contribute to Overture Maps because this growing community is helping make open map data easier to combine, compare and use for resilience planning and risk-informed decision-making worldwide.” – Helen Crowley, Secretary General, Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation.
“For us at Intellias, the Overture Maps Foundation is about connection, collaboration, and networking with the teams driving the mapping standards and industry forward. While open data holds immense value, it only truly comes alive through the people who drive it. Through our IntelliMapLab program, we empower next-gen engineers with hands-on experience using Overture data while nurturing a community. For us, contributing to Overture means investing in the people who will shape the future of this ecosystem.” – Roman Kropyvnytskyy, Delivery Director at Intellias
“Collaboration is at the core of everything we do. We believe the best solutions and services are built through strong partnerships, and Overture Maps provides the foundation for organizations to work together and create meaningful impact.” – Klaus Emrich, Product Marketing Lead, Krick.com
“Accurate location data underpins business success in nearly every industry. Open, interoperable standards like the ones Overture is building matter so much, especially as mapping needs stretch into every corner of the globe. Smarty brings deep expertise in accurate address data to the table, and we’re eager to support the Foundation’s mission to advance global, open geospatial infrastructure. We look forward to collaborating with some of the brightest minds in the geospatial industry to help build a more connected, trustworthy map of the world.” – Jonathan Oliver, CEO, Smarty
“At Zephr we build systems that anchor map data to reality, and Overture gives that work a shared home. Through the Places Imagery Task Force we have shown that street-level imagery and relocalization can pull POIs to their true storefronts. Since those corrections are tied to GERS, the whole ecosystem benefits rather than just us. That is the kind of grounding AI needs to operate in the physical world, and it has to be open to be trustworthy.” – Sean Gorman, CEO, Zephr
These members represent just a fraction of the 50 organizations now building with Overture — spanning technology, government, academia, and non-profits, all working from the same open foundation.
Join the Overture Community
Whether you’re looking to contribute data, build with Overture’s open datasets, leverage the Global Entity Reference System (GERS), or connect with the community shaping the future of geospatial infrastructure, there are plenty of ways to get involved. Learn more about becoming an Overture member.
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