Nokia’s announced intention to sell HERE has sparked a frenzy of speculation around new ownership. Will it be a consortium of automobile manufacturers? Will it be Uber? Will it be Baidu? Coverage is high on speculation (and tabloid excitement) as the rumored buyers come from many markets and corners of the world.

Two key facts have emerged from the coverage. First, map data is laced throughout many critical industries. From automotive to local search to mobile to business logistics to enterprise business intelligence, map data is a critical asset upon which a huge variety of services are built. Second, there are very few reliable worldwide source of that map data. This combination of wide-ranging importance and scarcity raises the stakes for the eventual owner of the HERE data. And for those who lose access to that data either due to competitive issues or a change in business focus.

What keeps surprising me is how ownership is the main question. I wonder if we’re not asking the wrong question. Instead of asking “Who should own this scarce asset?” maybe the right question should be “Why shouldn’t this valuable asset be owned by everybody?” If map data is so critical to so many industries, maybe the right answer is that it should be open, supported and used by all.

Google, TomTom, and Nokia HERE keep getting listed as the three spatial data sources available. Why do we forget the fourth one? The one most transparent to the audience, the one we all own and work on together? What about OpenStreetMap?

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