• June 4, 2009

Google put out a call Wednesday to government agencies and businesses in countries to share mapping data, so it can create an accurate country maps worldwide. Some of the benefits would come in the way of tourism and economic development, Naureen Kabir, strategic partnerships at Google, wrote in a blog post. Sharing high-resolution images and vector data that shares the country's diverse landscape to the rest of the world on Google Maps and Google Earth could spur interest. Kabir says sharing data would encourage visitors.

While several countries have pushed back on efforts, Google says the images of urban and commercial areas, as well as natural resources could encourage foreign investments. Vector data of populated places, points-of-interest, roads and other important data gives investors valuable information about how visitors can navigate through the country, Kabir wrote in the blog. In Panama, for example, the recent promotion of Panamanian real estate to the international market could be supported by geographical data and visibility to the targeted audience through Google products. --Laurie Sullivan