“HERE is once again the highest-ranked location platform” – Ovum

According to Ovum’s most recent Location Platform Index, HERE Technologies has maintained its standing as the world’s number one location platform.

Having overtaken Google in last year’s Index, HERE has cemented its leadership position as a result of ongoing improvements to the HERE Open Location Platform (OLP), a continuous commitment to developers, investment in artificial intelligence (AI), and a robust privacy framework.

Ovum assessed 13 major vendors in the location space, ranking them according to their mapping and technology offering, the size of their reach across developer and OEM ecosystems, and the completeness of their platform offering.

In this Index, Ovum particularly referenced the availability of HERE XYZ – the location data management tool previously released this year; the launch of HERE Navigation on Demand – the Amazon Alexa integrated Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) car-centric navigation solution; HERE Cellular Signals, which provides up-to-date information on mobile network performance on roads in 196 countries, as examples of industry leading developments; and the continuing push into the advertising technology (AdTech) sector with the recent launch of HERE Advertising Data Services.

Innovation is also an area where HERE distinguishes itself from the competition. As well as investing €25 million into a dedicated AI research institute in Austria, HERE is broadening and deepening the use of AI across the company and investing in blockchain and new privacy-enhancing technologies, including in the area of consent management.

“To be recognized as the number one location platform in last year’s index was a great achievement for the whole team at HERE. To retain that position this year is as gratifying because it shows that we continue to innovate”, said Edzard Overbeek, Chief Executive Officer at HERE Technologies. “It is particularly rewarding to be recognized by Ovum for both the introduction of new products as well as for our growing initiatives around AI, blockchain and privacy.”

As Ovum analysts Eden Zoller and Charlotte Palfrey state in the report, the ultimate goal for HERE “is to drive the creation of an open, standardized framework for data privacy in the location domain that others could join”. Collaboration is at the centre of everything HERE does, with an open platform as the key to innovating location solutions and ultimately enabling an autonomous world for everyone.