Recently, millions of people traveled to and across North America to view the total solar eclipse in all its glory. To keep traffic flowing smoothly and ensure eclipse seekers knew what to expect on the roads, TomTom’s regional sourcing specialists started preparing months in advance. By the end, they’d mapped over 100 road closures in the U.S., and close to 50 in Mexico and Canada each.

In the race for cutting-edge location technology, TomTom has firmly secured pole position, coming out as the frontrunner in location applications and services in Counterpoint Research's latest analysis. For TomTom, it’s more than a win, it’s validation of its commitment to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on the road.

“In today's digital sphere, maps are becoming richer and more dynamic. As maps constantly evolve, their style is critical to serve the vast variety of use cases that rely on maps,” Manuela Locarno Ajayi, TomTom’s SVP of Product Engineering says.

"The automotive industry is going through a digital transformation... Software is becoming central to deliver the user experience," TomTom's VP of Design, Gianluca Brugnoli, says.

Standards are everything in business. They’re the rules that help our world work efficiently and cooperatively. Without them, individual countries could have tens of time zones, plug-and-play computer hardware wouldn’t exist and all our phones would have different charging connectors. So, it’s surprising to learn that some industries still lack crucial standardization to make everything work well together and promote interoperability and innovation. The commercial mapmaking and location tech industry is one such industry.

The past year is one for TomTom’s history books. Delivering several firsts, the company is releasing new products, pushing its technology forward with the latest innovations. And it’s playing a central role in shaping the commercial mapping and location tech industry for good. With the year ending, let’s take a look at some of the milestones and trends from the past year and consider what’s on the horizon before TomTom returns with a bang at CES2024 in January.

Collaboration is the guiding principle behind the twenty-year success of OpenStreetMap. It’s this fundamental concept that allows OSM’s communities to simultaneously use and make maps. This approach to modern mapmaking was a core theme at ‘State of the Map’ 2023 conference, in Antwerp, Belgium.

Transport infrastructure is a central feature of any map. So, it’s no surprise the Overture Foundation, with the exclusive help of TomTom, is developing its own data set of the world’s roads – what it calls its transportation layer. We looked at what TomTom is doing to create the Overture transportation layer and what it means for the project.

Maybe you’ve seen it yourself. Maybe it drove past you one day. Maybe you followed it on the highway during your commute. Whether you’ve seen it or not, it’s almost certainly driven on the same roads you drive on every day. The TomTom Cars, or more specifically, its mobile mapping (MoMa) vehicles have been nearly everywhere and have long been an important tool in TomTom’s mapmaking. But with mapmaking evolving and map data available from more sources, will we continue to see MoMa vehicles on our roads?

When someone says electric vehicles (EVs), you probably don’t think of TomTom — but you should. As the world goes electric, we must find ways to make living with EVs and using them in businesses as simple and effortless as possible. We need to rethink the experience and create something new, something that solves the problems of anyone or any business that uses electric vehicles, we need an excellent EV experience. Going electric is complicated for everyone, but it doesn’t have to be — and TomTom thinks its maps have the answer.

Today, most drivers no longer worry if their electric vehicle (EV) will go the distance. But when they do need to charge, they still face some pressing questions: Will there be available chargers at the next charging point? How long will it take to charge? How much will it cost, and how can I pay?

From the lush depths of the Amazon rainforest to the vibrant bustle of Rio de Janeiro’s beaches, Brazil is home to many terrains — and people. It's a vast country made up of an intricate patchwork of 26 states each with its own cultures, diversity and landscape. They also have their own unique environmental and societal challenges. Meninas da Geo, a volunteer geotechnology group, is taking matters into its own hands to address some of these challenges in its home state of Pará.

Passion, strength and skill now meet data-insights, generative AI and location tech. The Tour de France has been around since 1903, but how it’s organized, watched and experienced has been changing as fast as technology evolves.

It’s been about eight months since TomTom announced its ambitious goal of building the world’s smartest and most useful maps. Progress is being made, so it’s high time we got an update on how it’s all going. We spoke to Willem Strijbosch, VP of Product for Maps, to find out more.

Last week, TomTom’s VP of Product for Maps, Willem Strijbosch, took to the stage as part of a panel at Geospatial World Forum to discuss a new, open model for map data and how the Overture Maps Foundation will work to make it a reality. But why do we need a new model for mapmaking and geospatial data? Why do we need the Overture Foundation in the first place?

In this article, we hand over the keys to the TomTom Newsroom blog to Drs. Reinder Storm who is the Curator Special Collections at The Allard Pierson, a University of Amsterdam affiliated museum that houses a very special collection of historical maps.