Mapzen is a New York based geospatial company that builds open-source mapping tools and collaborates on open geodata initiatives. Mapzen believes that maps are and for centuries have been powerful tools for shaping how we see the world and how we live in it. The company supports open data and software to promote a healthy mapping ecosystem- one that is diverse, sustainable and accessible to all.
The company is focused on core components of geo platforms including search, rendering, navigation and data. Mapzen builds these tools then provides them as a service. The company, however, works on the individual components, the modular building blocks that anyone can use, so that mapmakers can build on the things that Mapzen builds. They are tools that developers at any level can easily set up and use themselves, for free. Mapzen believes that open-source map technologies follow a long tradition of community-powered cartography and it is the strengthening of this community that is the core to their success.
Some of Mapzen’s collaboration projects include: Tangram- a flexible, hackable mapping engine, designed for real-time rendering of 2D and 3D maps; Mapzen Search- a modern geocoding and place search service based on Mapzen’s open source geocoder and powered by open data; Mapzen Turn-by-Turn- an open-source routing service for client-side routing applications and hosted solutions; and Vector Tile Service- which are awesome for generating real-time renderings of map data!
For more information, visit their website at https://mapzen.com/
Written by Kathleen Emerson (2/16/2016).