Space42, Microsoft Join Map Africa Initiative
Many of Africa’s official maps are fragmented, outdated, or hard to access, leaving governments and businesses to make major decisions with inaccurate or incomplete data. Within five years, Esri’s Map Africa initiative aims to deliver high-resolution, scalable geospatial data across all 54 African countries, benefiting more than 1.4 billion people. Now, Space42—a United Arab Emirates–based AI and space technology company—along with Microsoft will partner with Esri to provide African nations with locally managed geospatial data. Space42 will lead fundraising and project management and provide satellite imagery. Esri will orchestrate basemap production using its GeoAI and remote sensing capabilities, while also supporting regional hubs that build local capacity. Microsoft will provide secure cloud infrastructure and an AI framework through Azure to support data processing, sharing, and integration at scale.
New E-Commerce Experience for Demographic Data
Organizations can now purchase updated, authoritative demographic datasets via Esri’s new e-commerce experience in the Esri Store. “Organizations will have access to current-year and five-year estimates for more than 2,000 demographic and socioeconomic characteristics in the United States, as well as census and American Community Survey (ACS) information, consumer spending trends, market potential, and more available on demand to fit their workflows,” said Rob Elkins, Esri’s director of product management. Go to the Esri Store to explore the data.
