Patent-to-product mapping, financial metrics and organizational data are critical to deliver the insight needed to effectively run an IP business unit that increases business value.

FORBES: State of the Intellectual Property (IP) Union

Google, for example, currently hires drivers to operate cars that collect images and data for its Street View mapping product.

WSJ: Self-Driving Cars Spark New Guidelines

In Monday's WWDC Keynote, Apple's Scott Forstall said that the company would highlight transit apps from the App Store in its mapping product.

CNN: Hands-on first impressions of Apple's iOS 6

"One of the reasons we're so excited about community data is the sheer volume of it, " says Rik Temmink, vice president for product management at TeleAtlas, the digital mapping subsidiary of sat-nav manufacturer TomTom.

BBC: Tech that trumps traffic tangles

Pittman hopes to sell product licenses to companies and institutions that need help mapping their mountains of structured data, such as an Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ) database, as well as unstructured data such as e-mail and instant messages.

FORBES: Finding Meaning In A Google World

Google just announced a cloud-based mapping service for business, and Microsoft may head there with a better-quality product.

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