MapQuest Builds UK Alternative on OSM, Funds U.S. Grants for Geodata
MapQuest announced a “parallel universe” for it UK offering at the State of Map taking place this week in Girona, Spain. The beta launch of its OpenStreetMap-based site for the UK is “a stand-alone offering and will live alongside MapQuest’s existing UK platform, which is based on commercially available map data.” But it’s not just open-data based, it’s also open source software-based.
“Today we launched a version of the newly redesigned MapQuest, but on open data provided by the OpenStreetMap community,” said Randy Meech, Head of Engineering for AOL Local and Mapping. “Not only is the map data open, but also this beta map stack uses popular open-source mapping software, including Mapnik for tile rendering, TileCache for caching, and Nominatim for geo-coding and search. We are now employing developers to contribute back to these projects for the benefit of the community.”
Also announced was a $1 million fund to build out OSM in the U.S. geared to support AOL’s local news venture Patch, acquired last spring. It’s been using OSM data since last November (APB coverage).
Well, everyone knew MapQuest had to do something to get out of its rut and so it has! While I love the idea that these efforts will help grow OSM, I really want to see the return get back to MapQuest which has been hanging on through tough times and still has many, many corporate customers paying the bills. And, I love the vision that at some point all of MapQuest could be powered by OSM.
