Skip to main content

Welcome

Welcome to the Futuremaps user guide. We created Futuremaps because we belive every organisation deserves great visualisations.

With Futuremaps, we sprinkle some special sauce on top of open source libraries and bring a catalogue of open data to deliver a tool that allows you, the user, to create beautiful maps and visualisations, all in your browser.

If you're keen to dive straigt in and learn how to use our platform, head over to Getting Started to get stuck in straight away.

If you're interested in our journey and motivation for building Futuremaps, keep reading. And for the super curious, follow some of the links if you want to delve deeper.

Built on Open Source​

Mapping and data visualisation has long been the reserve of specialist data scientists. Data can come in a variety of formats (think CSV or GeoJSON to name but a few) and co-ordinate reference systems (think Latitude and Longitude, or Ordnance Survey National Grid).

Traditional tools are complex and can require many hours to master, and often comes in the form of a large desktop application like ArcGIS or a widely popular open source alternative QGIS.

Our aim is to take the complexity out of mapping and visualising your data, allowing you to simply drag and drop data in from your computer, and see it imeediately on the map.

To that end, we stand on the shoulders of giants. Uber have been a leader in developing open source tooling for data visualisation. Mapbox have made web mapping a thing of beauty. And Facebook have even open sourced their library for building incredible user interfaces and experiences.

The open source movement is incredible, and powers so much of the underlying experiences we have on the web on a daily basis. We owe a debt of gratitude to the open source library maintainers and contributors that have made Futuremaps possible.

Integrating Open Data​

We're big believers in the promise of Open Data. However, it is our firmly held belief that we are only starting to scratch the surface of what is possible with it.

We think open data should not just be available, it should be easily accessible and usable.

Currently, open data providers are typically central government departments, local authorities and scientific institutions. This data can come in a variety of formats, from CSV files published to a website, to full blown APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).

The trouble is, unless you're a data engineer with some serious coding skills, this data is inaccessible.

That's why we've invested in integrating a growing catalogue of open data, right into the platform, to make it easy to add a variety of data sources directly to your maps.

Easy to Use​

Futuremaps brings the power of open source tools together with open data to put a tool in your hands that is both easy to use, and creat high quality maps and data visualisations. Hit 'Geting Started' below to dive in and start creating beuatiful visualisations.