HERE Research

HERE Research
Name	HERE Research
Type	Research and development division
Industry	Mapping, geospatial technology, autonomous driving
Founded	2015
Headquarters	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Key people	Eelco Dijkstra, Edzard Overbeek
Parent	HERE Technologies
Products	Mapping platforms, HD maps, sensor fusion, SLAM research

HERE Research is the research arm of a global mapping and location intelligence organization headquartered in Amsterdam. It focuses on geospatial data collection, high-definition mapping, sensor fusion, machine perception, and scalable cloud platforms to support navigation, autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and logistics. Its work connects to major milestones in mapping, automotive, robotics, and cloud computing.

History

HERE Research emerged after strategic reorganizations in the mapping industry following acquisitions and partnerships involving Nokia, Navteq, TomTom, Bosch, Intel, and Audi. Its formation followed corporate transitions tied to the Nokia Ovi Services era and the sale of Navteq assets, with leadership shaped by executives drawn from Microsoft, Siemens, Volkswagen Group, and Amazon. Early projects referenced fieldwork models pioneered by National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency practices and leveraged techniques from the MIT Media Lab, Stanford University, and ETH Zurich research communities. Strategic inflection points aligned with global initiatives such as the European Union's Horizon 2020 program, collaborations with the U.S. Department of Transportation, and regulatory developments influenced by standards bodies like ISO and IEEE.

Technology and Products

HERE Research contributes to suites of products including cloud-native map platforms, high-definition (HD) lane-level maps, map-matching engines, and real-time traffic services used by clients such as BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, and Toyota. It advances technologies in simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) informed by prior work at Carnegie Mellon University, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Oxford. Sensor fusion toolkits integrate lidar, radar, camera, and GNSS modules, drawing on sensor stacks similar to those in projects at Waymo, Cruise, and Aptiv. Location-based cloud services scale on infrastructure like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, enabling integration with telematics systems from Mobileye, TomTom, and HERE Technologies customers in DHL, UPS, and Maersk. Map editing and change detection pipelines incorporate computer vision models related to work from OpenAI, DeepMind, Meta Platforms, and academic groups at University of Cambridge.

Research and Development

R&D at HERE Research spans machine perception, map generation, crowdsourcing, and geospatial analytics, building on algorithms developed in labs such as CSAIL, Google Research, and IBM Research. Projects explore deep learning for semantic segmentation using benchmarks from ImageNet, KITTI, and Cityscapes datasets, and probabilistic mapping techniques akin to those used in DARPA challenges. Robotics-focused experiments reference path planning frameworks from ROS, motion prediction research from Imperial College London, and behavior modeling influenced by studies at Carnegie Mellon University. The group publishes and presents at venues including NeurIPS, CVPR, ICRA, and ITS World Congress, and collaborates with standards consortia such as 3GPP and SAE International on interoperability and V2X communication.

Partnerships and Collaborations

HERE Research maintains partnerships with automotive OEMs like Volkswagen Group, Volvo Group, and Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance as well as tier-one suppliers ZF Friedrichshafen, Continental AG, and Magna International. It collaborates with academic institutions including TU Delft, University of Twente, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and EPFL and participates in consortia involving Intel, Qualcomm, NXP Semiconductors, and Huawei Technologies. Projects are coordinated with public agencies such as Transport for London, Federal Highway Administration, and municipal programs in Singapore and Amsterdam for smart mobility pilots. Cross-industry alliances link HERE Research to logistics partners like FedEx and energy firms such as Shell for infrastructure mapping.

Corporate Structure and Ownership

HERE Research is organized within a parent corporate entity owned by a consortium including Audi AG, BMW AG, Daimler AG, and investment firms influenced by private equity practices seen in transactions involving KKR and Bain Capital. Leadership draws on executives with backgrounds at Nokia Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, and SAP SE. The research division reports through product and engineering units coordinating with commercial teams serving clients including Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics, Uber Technologies, and Lyft, Inc..

Privacy and Data Practices

Data handling at HERE Research adheres to regulatory regimes such as the GDPR and interfaces with frameworks used by European Commission initiatives on data governance. Privacy engineering applies anonymization and differential-privacy techniques inspired by academic research at Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, and industrial practices from Google and Apple. Geo-data stewardship aligns with licensing models observed in OpenStreetMap and cartographic standards from United Nations agencies and complies with contractual obligations to customers including Cisco Systems and Siemens AG.

Impact and Applications

Work from HERE Research underpins applications in autonomous driving tested in scenarios similar to those in M City, smart city deployments in Barcelona, and logistics optimization employed by Amazon Logistics. HD mapping and perception systems support advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) produced by Bosch, Valeo, and Mobileye. Urban analytics tools serve transportation planning efforts akin to studies by McKinsey & Company and Boston Consulting Group, while environmental sensing contributes to initiatives from World Bank and United Nations Environment Programme. Academic citations and technology transfers have influenced startups and spinouts in the mapping and mobility space similar to Mapbox, Carto, and TomTom.

Category:Geographic information systems Category:Research institutes in the Netherlands