Wikidata:WikidataCon 2017/Notes/Leaping over languages: Connecting the world with multilingual maps!

Abstract edit

Hundreds of languages exist in this world but people are better connected now more than ever. Multilingualism has blurred the boundaries and the advantages of that have been amazing. Newest being the foray into maps. Localized maps are enabling people across the world to access map data with ease.

Wikidata makes the process of localisation much easier with the community pitching in to update the data for the languages and the Wikidata ID being the common way to access this open data. A place with a Wikidata id is updated with translations and can easily be pulled into any map.

At Mapbox, we are committed to building a fantastic mapping platform that is powered by the open data. Our map data comes from OpenStreetMap and Wikidata powers Search for our Geocoder. What we are pushing now is the World Places Translation Project, where we have over 300000 translations in around 30 languages. We use Wikidata IDs to create a list of world places and link the translations sourced by many native speakers into creating a massive database for some of the most popular and commonly spoken languages across the world.

This talk highlights the importance of Wikidata in our maps - from powering our multilingual maps to enabling accurate searches of the places across the word, - throwing light on the process involved in making our maps reach billions of people.