Embracing FOSS for vector tile pipelines in 2021 - 2 case studies
2021-10-01, 09:00–09:30, Buenos Aires

End of last year we at EOX decided to go all-in on open source vector tiles (MVT). We had two use-cases:

  1. An interactive Vue/Django web app visualizing millions of agricultural fields along with dynamic properties
  2. Rendering vector and raster tiles from the same data source using the same style document and in multiple projections (web mercator and geodetic)

Along the way, we found a consolidated FOSS ecosystem that had lost many contributors to proprietary lands. However, we also encountered some real FOSS gems (pg_tileserv, django-vectortiles) and a legacy tool (tileserver-gl) that we hacked into rendering non-web-mercator raster tiles from MVT.


This talk aims to be a reference for companies, organizations and individuals, who are looking into adopting FOSS for vector tiles. Participants can expect to learn about FOSS projects off the beaten paths of proprietary services.

For both case studies, I will first introduce our requirements and then give an overview of the options that we evaluated. Finally I will explain our solutions for each use-case.

These FOSS vector tiles projects will be mentioned in the talk:
- dirt
- django-vectortiles
- GeoServer
- martin
- pg_tileserv
- Postile
- tegola
- tileserver-gl
- VueLayers


Authors and Affiliations

Brand, Stefan (1)

(1) EOX IT Services GmbH, Vienna, Austria

Track

Software

Topic

Software status / state of the art

Level

2 - Basic. General basic knowledge is required.

Language of the Presentation

English

See also: Slides

Cartographer, Vector Data and Python GIS Specialist | Loved by Christ, blessed by the Father. Never satisfied with superficial answers. Youth ministry leader. Reading, cooking, (train) traveling, board games, jigsaw puzzles, pilgrimages.