Mapbox Launches a Snowflake Native App in the Data Cloud

by | Jul 5, 2023

The Mapbox Snowflake Native App enables Snowflake customers to unlock the value of addresses and geospatial data with simple SQL statements.

LAS VEGAS – Mapbox, the leading location data platform for mobile and web applications, announced at Snowflake’s annual user conference, Snowflake Summit 2023, the availability of its new Snowflake Native App on Snowflake Marketplace. Snowflake customers can install and run the app within their Snowflake account, enabling data analysts and decision makers to use a variety of Mapbox geospatial services directly within the Snowflake Data Cloud.

Data analysis that would have previously required direct interaction with APIs can now be completed with simple SQL statements. Snowflake customers can use Mapbox to match addresses to geographic coordinates, translate raw coordinates to addresses, and aggregate data by geographic boundaries.

Snowflake, the Data Cloud company, announced that the Snowflake Native App Framework (public preview on AWS) is now available for developers to build and test apps natively in the Data Cloud with additional distribution and monetization capabilities in public preview soon. Snowflake Native Apps usher in a new era of data collaboration, enabling developers with the tools needed to create robust apps quickly with Snowflake’s always-on availability and auto-scalability, all the while reducing security and privacy hurdles for customers because the apps run directly within the customers’ Snowflake accounts. 

Snowflake Marketplace already has over 25 new Snowflake Native Apps available today, and over one hundred providers are currently developing apps that span multiple industries and use cases. “The Mapbox Snowflake Native App expands the availability of location services for thousands of customers on Snowflake Marketplace,” said Chris Child, Senior Director of Product Management, Snowflake.

Mapbox is one of the leading organizations building in the Data Cloud, with a Snowflake Native App readily available to easily bring unique insights to end users and enabling them to unlock value with just a few clicks on Snowflake Marketplace. By being Powered by Snowflake,  Mapbox is able to create new revenue streams by distributing its app to thousands of Snowflake customers, without these customers having to move or expose their data.

“We are excited to join Snowflake in enabling easy access to location intelligence for the Snowflake community,” said Sean Graber, Head of Search, Mapbox. “The Mapbox Snowflake Native App gives more customers, especially non-developers, easy ways to harness the business value of geospatial data, and all within the Snowflake Data Cloud environment where they are already building.”

Clean up and convert location data
Users of the new Mapbox Snowflake Native App can tap into the Mapbox Geocoding API in order to validate and correct messy location data (such as long lists of non-standard addresses), convert text addresses and place names to geospatial coordinates, and translate raw location coordinates into text addresses. The Mapbox Geocoding API uses advanced batch processing to achieve lightning-fast processing time, even while processing hundreds of billions of queries daily. The Snowflake Native App also offers the ability to retain query results for future use.

Geocoding is valuable for companies in virtually every industry. In sectors like retail, telecommunications, healthcare, or insurance, providers can use geocoding to validate and analyze customer addresses to understand where clients are located to optimize service and  direct marketing campaigns. Trucking, shipping and logistics companies can use ‘reverse geocoding’ to convert geographic coordinates generated from automated tracking devices into addresses to better understand where assets or shipments are located and support compliance with regulations, such as the International Fuel Tax Agreement, which requires companies to pay fuel taxes based on travel time in various jurisdictions. 

Aggregate and analyze data according to geographic boundaries
The second major feature of the Mapbox Snowflake Native App is the ability to aggregate and analyze geospatial data using Mapbox Boundaries, an industry-leading dataset of 5 million polygons of administrative, political, statistical, postal, national, state, city, and locality borders across every country and at multiple levels of jurisdiction. Mapbox Boundaries polygons are edge-matched and topologically accurate – ensuring that there are no gaps or overlaps that introduce errors into analysis.

Using Mapbox Boundaries data, Snowflake users can use point-in-polygon analysis to aggregate geocoded data by jurisdiction, including multiple types of boundaries not included in typical geocoding products. Data analysts can identify and report on insights by aggregating data to various administrative or statistical levels. Sales teams can assess territories or the distribution of customers. Political organizations can aggregate address data by federal or state legislative districts to inform fundraising and other analytics.

Learn more about Snowflake’s continued innovations, and how it is enabling organizations to distribute and monetize leading apps at scale in the Data Cloud here. Be sure to check out the Snowflake Summit 2023 keynotes live or on-demand here, and stay on top of the latest news and announcements from Snowflake on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Mapbox
Mapbox is the leading maps and location platform powering a new generation of location-aware applications. Mapbox is the only platform that equips organizations with a full set of tools to power the navigation for people, packages, and vehicles everywhere. More than 3.9 million registered developers and nearly 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies have chosen Mapbox because of the platform’s flexibility, security and privacy compliance. Organizations use Mapbox applications, data, SDKs and APIs to create customized and immersive experiences that delight their customers. For more information, visit www.mapbox.com.

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