Mapping technology has become an integral part of various products and services, proving its usefulness in both web-based and mobile applications. For example, ride-hailing services such as Uber, Grab, or e-commerce applications such as Shopee, among others, rely heavily on mapping technology to provide on-demand services, calculating accurate times of arrival, optimising transportation routes, and ensuring accurate traffic information for references.

Nevertheless, the current mapping and addressing solutions lack accuracy, context, and in many regions, content. In fact, 95% of drivers have reported problems with inaccurate mapping, and around 71% of drivers had to spend an average 4-11 minutes to locate the right drop-off location. Consequently, it was estimated that around $2.5 billion could have been saved annually if it weren’t for wrong mapping information.

Additionally, within our increasingly interconnected world especially in terms of integrated supply chain and logistics, one wrong address can lead to delay and disruption at multiple touchpoints, increasing costs of transportation and loss. 

The growing trend toward hyperlocal delivery and associated services

The trend towards hyperlocal delivery has been in the making for the past few years, reshaping delivery and logistics services.

The availability of location-based search enables customers to look for products and services from nearby providers, reducing time and cost of transportation, and allowing them to enjoy fresh local produce. Moreover, retailers can also benefit from minimising delivery efforts, and tailoring their services better to serve customers’ specific demands and preferences with location-based insights.

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Additionally, following the sudden emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers have also become increasingly attuned to online shopping as a means of adapting to the new normal of travel restrictions. All of these things are happening alongside the fast development of digital infrastructure, disruptive technologies including artificial intelligence and machine learning, and the high rate of adoption of mobile devices, especially smartphones. All of these things have come together to make hyperlocal delivery a reality.

As such, the global hyperlocal service market is predicted to post a strong compound annual growth rate of 12.5% over the period of 2022 – 2028 to reach an estimated value of $3730 billion.  

Limitations of existing mapping technology

Looking into the future of mapping technology and considering the robust growth in the demand for hyperlocal delivery, one-map-fits-all solutions no longer work in today’s digital economy. Instead, maps of tomorrow have to be hyperlocal and contextual, providing dynamic content and more precise and detailed information regarding each location.

Moreover, current mapping and addressing have been primarily concentrated on urban areas, and there is still a huge lack of mapping data when it comes to rural areas, venues, and indoor spaces. In addition, another weakness of current mapping technologies is that location data and changes are not updated in real-time. This presents a huge disadvantage for delivery services, especially for places in emerging and fast-developing economies like Southeast Asia where location data is dynamic — changing every day, every hour, and sometimes every minute. Hence, companies currently have to deal with data that does not reflect real-world context, or worse, that displays a distorted picture of reality.

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Companies do not own their location data. The location data that companies generate are added to the mapping provider’s database, making it difficult for companies to access these data at a later time. Logistics companies also do not have control and autonomy over additional location-data knowledge and insights gathered by their fleet workers that could add a competitive edge. This is a problem many businesses face today.

How UNL redefines the future of next-generation hyperlocal mapping technology

Recognising the gap in the market, UNL introduces Virtual Private Maps (VPMs) that enabled businesses to create their own private maps with just one click and organise location data and services. Following a modular, data-agnostic design, VPMs can connect multiple data sources, allowing businesses to benefit from a map that is truly contextual to their business case. 

“When it comes to infrastructure, addressing systems and local standards, each market comes with its unique challenges. Achieving a hyperlocal level of accuracy and relevance of maps and location data can be too resource, asset, tech and labour heavy for a single mapping provider to guarantee. The only way to do that is to make maps distributed, decentralised and hyperlocal. Establishing collaboration of all local stakeholders to contribute to the quality and relevance of these maps,” explained Xander van der Heijden, Founder and CEO of UNL.

What makes VPMs a powerful tool for businesses is the combination of data ownership and the ability to publish location and point-of-interest data updates in real-time. With VPMs, businesses can securely bring their own data and keep ownership and control within their organisation. Additionally, by connecting 3rd party data sources at various geographical levels and setting up continuous feedback loops, companies are able to maintain a single source of truth that represents the real world.

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“Data autonomy and ownership have been core to UNL’s philosophy and values since day-1. Any data our clients bring remains under their control and ownership, and they can manage data access rights,” shared Xander van der Heijden.

UNL VPM data can be seamlessly integrated with all UNL location APIs, SDKs and connected applications, available via UNL’s do-it-yourself Micro-location Platform. UNL provides a suite of powerful location services, including plug-and-play mapping, geocoding, search, routing and data management APIs, SDKs and plug-ins.  

By creating their own Virtual Private Maps, businesses around the world can power their location-based services and applications such as e-commerce, delivery, smart city, and other autonomous solutions.

UNL Virtual Private Maps also come with a particularly resourceful tool: the UNL Studio. With an interactive visual design interface for users to visualise, manage, and update maps and location data, UNL Studio enables users to seamlessly interact with various location intelligence tools and data sources, edit map style, and visualise custom/business data — with no coding required.

In the near future, companies are also able to either keep their data private or they also have the option to open up their data and integrated applications to the marketplace and tap into opportunities to monetise their data.

In sum, thanks to UNL’s Virtual Private Maps, businesses no longer have to contend with the limitations of one-map-fits-all solutions. UNL’s VPM enables users to create private maps that scale alongside their business, control location data quality and ownership, and maintain the relevance of their private maps for reliable usage and monetisation.

For more information, visit https://unl.global.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by UNL

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