Due to increased advancements in geospatial data and analysis, GIS technology has developed rapidly over the past few decades. Boundless is one company that has been working closely with GIS and watching it thrive. For the last 14 years, Boundless has not only taken a leading role in open source geospatial expertise by reducing the cost and time of deploying and managing geospatial software with a scalable GIS platform, but has also created a powerful ecosystem of geospatial knowledge, tools, and resources. Boundless is committed to empowering commercial enterprises and government organizations with innovative solutions that enable better decision making, answer location intelligence questions and help them better understand their world.
“An exciting future, built on an impressive past,” as the headline on the company website says. The company members are extremely active in the open source geospatial community, sharing and helping others expand their understanding of GIS through the combination of academic knowledge and technology. Boundless has produced various products, which have not only opened up a whole new page for GIS but have also benefited thousands of customers. Through the commitment to geography education, a zest for challenges, and enthusiasm to improve decision making, Boundless has welcomed numerous opportunities to work with some of the most well-known organizations across the world.
To underscore this commitment, Boundless recently introduced Offline Tile Server™, a lightweight, portable, purpose-built map tile server that provides access to detailed global basemaps on demand while offline. The inspiration came from the lack of network connectivity in remote or restricted areas where first responders, field operations, and disaster response communities require certain maps for crucial tasks. They wanted to achieve the goal of “basemaps anywhere on Earth.” Boundless Offline Tile Server provides customers with accurate, up-to-date, detailed maps. This revolutionary technology can not only improve the accuracy of field operations but also greatly boost the efficiency by providing access to the latest maps.
Mr. Calamito also noted, “Mobility is at the heart of today’s technology, and the rapid growth of smartphones and tablets in recent years has had a profound impact on the GIS industry. This has led Boundless to introduce Anywhere™, a mobile app that extends the functionality of the Boundless Exchange™ geospatial management system. Designed to modernize field collection workflows and integrate efficient mobile technologies, Boundless Anywhere™ enables faster decision making for mapping, analysis, and reporting across platforms. With Boundless Anywhere, organizations can collect data in the field with handheld devices and tablets, and store it instantly in the database. This technology gives organizations access to real-time location data that provides a more efficient workflow and allows for more engagement with their communities.
Beyond helpful and innovative products, Boundless also provides a series of plugins for open mapping and GIS training courses aimed at making open source to GIS more accessible to all users – more lessons are in the works. A plugin called QGIS Lessons assists users in performing fundamental tasks with step-by-step examples.
Furthermore, Boundless also has an extensive GIS training program with both online GIS courses, Boundless connect, and on-site GIS training classes. Online courses cover basic GIS knowledge with several tutorials for different platforms, such as Boundless Suite and Boundless Desktop. It is a self-paced learning process, with assistance from online instructors. Future courses will be announced in the near future that cover more complicated and comprehensive geospatial concepts.
As the Chief Geospatial Officer of Boundless, Anthony Calamito, said, “I am a strong believer in the fact that geography plays a part in everything we do.” These beliefs drive the team behind Boundless and are the reason why it has become one of the biggest names in GIS technology. Boundless provides complete and tailored solutions to organizations in commercial spaces as well as to all levels of government. Commercial enterprise, for example, relies heavily on GIS solutions in order to identify patterns and make faster, more profitable business decisions over property, equipment, or other related assets. Their products, solutions, and professional services also provide the foundation for GIS operations for state health departments, transportation authorities, technology departments of major metropolitan areas, and federal agencies. With proven customer success across a number of verticals, Boundless has developed broad expertise in partnering with business and government to drive optimization in their location-based operations.
Boundless’ goal is to package these best-of-breed capabilities with commercial support, maintenance, training, and resources into an ecosystem that is accessible to everyone. By strengthening the freedom open source software has provided, Boundless dedicates itself to deploying and managing geospatial software with extra support, maintenance, professional services, and expert trainings. Boundless is bound to set the pace in the field.