Boundless partners with Mapbox on mapping platform

Boundless, an open source geographic information systems (GIS) company, has announced a new partnership with Mapbox, a real-time location and mapping platform for developers.

The partnership enables developers to build applications that help people move through cities and understand their world better by giving Boundless users access to premium basemap content from Mapbox using Boundless Connect subscription service.

Additionally, Boundless has released a new version of its Desktop GIS software, which — along with Boundless Connect — was first introduced in November 2016. Boundless Desktop 1.1 includes increased support for PKI authentication, new options for styling, new image discovery and terrain analysis toolbars, in addition to Mapbox basemaps. Users can quickly search through an image library and discover image scenes based on location, cloud cover, acquisition date and more.

New Partnership

“This announcement signifies the massive growth and capabilities of Boundless Connect and accelerates the movement towards open GIS software and developer tools by expanding access to important content like Mapbox’s datasets and gorgeous maps,” said Andy Dearing, CEO of Boundless. “Partnering with Mapbox has been phenomenal and will only add value to our users. Making this data and content easily accessible through the Boundless ecosystem allows for significant productivity gains and unparalleled flexibility to our customers.”

Today, Boundless Desktop users can easily access this content through the Boundless Connect plugin. Mapbox content is also accessible through Boundless Suite and Exchange subscriptions. These basemaps include:

• Mapbox Streets: A comprehensive, general-purpose basemap used for styling transit networks
• Mapbox Outdoors: A basemap with curated tilesets and specialized styling tailored for adventurous use cases such as hiking or biking
• Mapbox Light & Dark: A subtle, full-featured basemap that provides geographic context while highlighting data
• Mapbox Satellite: A full global basemap, perfect as a blank canvas or overlay
• Mapbox Satellite Streets: Combines Mapbox Satellite with vector data from Mapbox Streets, providing a comprehensive set of road, label and POI information; bringing greater clarity and context to the crisp detail in high-resolution satellite imagery
• Additional premium services for routing, geocoding and more will be available in the near future.

“This partnership just makes sense. Mapbox and Boundless share a mission: helping developers build amazing applications that change the way people move and understand their world,” said Matt Irwin, head of strategic partnerships at Mapbox. “Boundless’s open, flexible platform pairs perfectly with Mapbox’s live-updating, customizable maps. The Boundless community now has tools and content, all in one place. We’re excited to see what they build!”

Boundless Desktop 1.1 Release

The Boundless Desktop 1.1. update includes increased support for PKI authentication, new options for styling, new image discovery and terrain analysis toolbars, and access to Mapbox basemaps.

Boundless Desktop is a cross-platform desktop GIS built upon proven open source software. Its ecosystem consists of more than 600 plugins that make working with geospatial data simpler.

The release of Boundless Desktop 1.1 signifies the company’s ongoing commitment to creating the world’s premier open GIS ecosystem. Boundless aims to continually provide customers with improvements and updates that make open GIS a viable and preferred alternative to proprietary GIS software.

Key features include:

• Access to premium basemap content from Mapbox made possible through a new partnership with Mapbox.
• Improved support for terrain analysis through a new toolbar that exposes common analysis techniques in a single location.
• Increased support for imagery with a new image discovery plugin. This feature enables users to conduct a quick search through image libraries and discover image scenes based on location, cloud cover, acquisition date and more.

“Boundless continues to evolve its ecosystem of open GIS software with each release,” said Anthony Calamito, VP of product at Boundless. “Boundless Desktop 1.1 includes enhancements designed to make working with Desktop GIS easier for all. Access to premium basemaps, increased image capabilities and easy access to analysis tools were added in direct response to customer feedback. We encourage customers to submit their feedback to our Ideas Portal, so that we can continue to deliver software that meets the needs of our user base.”

Boundless offers a complete open GIS solution through a unique combination of technology, products and experts, to give enterprises deeper intelligence and insights into their location-based data. The Boundless platform is built upon open-source technology and open APIs that generate actionable location intelligence across third-party apps, content services and plugins for enterprise applications.