GeoNext has announced mapping services giant, HERE, as the Platinum Sponsor for this year’s conference, and that HERE will also supply its detailed street network maps, via the HERE API, for use in the recently announced GeoNext GoGet Hack Contest.

HERE, formally NAVTEQ, is a Nokia business that provides accurate and up-to-date maps for every country in the world, including voice guided navigation for 96 countries, and indoor maps for 70,000 buildings across 70 countries.

HERE maps also support traffic services for 34 countries, and public transport information for 722 cities in 52 countries.

HERE is a next-generation cloud-based mapping platform, perfectly suited for the vision of the GeoNext conference. The detailed street networks provided by the HERE mapping API will provide context for the data supplied by GoGet in the GeoNext Hack Contest.

The Hack Contest will be based around data supplied by the Australian car-sharing service, GoGet. The team at GoGet are already conducting some fairly detailed analyses on their datasets, as you’ll hear during the keynote address at GeoNext 2014, but they are keen to see what else could be done with their valuable datasets – the Hack Contest provides participants with the opportunity to wow them, as well as peers and colleagues.

There are no specific guidelines for the hack contest – participants are free to use the GoGet and HERE datasets to create the most compelling demo, application or visualisation.

Some areas of potential interest are:

• data visualisation – an animation, infographic or other dataviz using GoGet data
• analysis – derive meaningful information from GoGet data, to improve GoGet’s operations
• user experience – improve the experience for GoGet users

Finalists will be invited to present their entries at the GeoNext conference, offering an opportunity for networking and exposure to your colleagues and potential new customers at GeoNext.

There are some great cash prizes, plus special rewards to everyone who enters the contest. Visit the GeoNext Hack Contest website for more information, including registration.