A data advocacy group is pushing for regulation in the United Kingdom that would require companies like Apple, Google, and Uber to share their respective mapping data. The report explains that “data monopolies” in the U.K. are preventing younger, smaller companies from innovation.
The report comes from the Open Data Institute, which is a data advocacy group founded by World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee and Nigel Shadbolt, a University of Oxford artificial intelligence professor. The report highlights how geospatial data should be shared among companies for the greater benefit of various technologies (via The Verge).
OPI says that technologies such as autonomous driving and connected vehicles, drones, and transport services could stall and lack innovation without companies like Apple, Google, and Uber sharing mapping data. The report cites data from the UK government, which estimates that maximizing the value of geospatial data could generate £6–11 billion each year.
The publication of the ODI’s report comes ahead of a review from the UK government of current geospatial strategies. Read the full report here.
