Geospatial content provider Intermap and user-generated maps and real-time traffic start-up Waze have entered into an agreement where Intermap will supply its European road basemap to Waze and Waze will provide Intermap with live data, consisting of anonymous GPS points – latitude, longitude, and height measurements - sourced from its user’s community.

Waze has a free mobile application that enables drivers to share real-time information (traffic, speedcam, etc.) during their commute (read more here). Waze’s ambition is to have their community create a worldwide “live map” that could could ultimately be monetized through business to business deals.

“Intermap’s 3D road geometry represents a highly accurate and uniform map database that will cover every road in Western Europe and the United States,” said Eric DesRoche, Intermap’s senior vice president of automotive. “We take great pride in having every road covered and want to ensure our maps remain up-to-date by capturing changes that inevitably take place. The combination of GPS reports from vehicles and aerial imagery will allow us to do so. Given that our maps will form the base for many ADAS safety and energy management applications, we have taken the appropriate steps to deliver a product to the industry that features a sound update strategy.”

“Intermap´s comprehensive and accurate road data helps Waze complete portions of our maps in areas where our users don’t travel so frequently,” said Uri Levine, co-founder and president of Waze. “This partnership is a great example of two companies creating a win-win strategy that benefits end-customers who rely on accurate road data for their daily driving. In terms of Waze’s overall strategy, this exchanging of map data with companies like Intermap is very much in line with the co-operative and community-based philosophy we support, and which we are replicating, worldwide.”

This innovative partnership once again demonstrates the changing landscape of the navigable map data market. The combination of maps and probe data was already at the center of Tele Atlas acquisition by TomTom.

However, to bear fruit, this agreement between Waze and Intermap is highly dependent upon the success of the Waze platform and community in Europe. Thus far it seems Italy is the only European country where Waze has been able to build a community. Having a decent base map is likely to help a lot, but building from scratch driver communities in several European countries might take time and money.