SkyBox was meaningful to the OpenStreetMap movement, in being a source for recent, traceable imagery.
I really don't feel like it is that important. Right now OpenStreetMap is still lacking active contributors more than anything.
In the long run OSM will offer better data under a less restrictive license which google simply does not offer. That alone will create demand for satellite imagery by mapping providers like MapBox as their customers want that.
From what I've been able to discern, OSM's road data is reasonably complete. Place data perhaps not as much. Is that the gap that you foresee additional contributors filling?
Road data is largely complete in Western Europe and getting there in Eastern Europe. In much of the US, it's still raw USGS TIGER data, which is very low quality and needs fixing. Asia, South America etc. are much patchier.
Address coverage is almost universally poor.
POI coverage is patchy: landmarks are often well surveyed, businesses less so.
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I really don't feel like it is that important. Right now OpenStreetMap is still lacking active contributors more than anything.
In the long run OSM will offer better data under a less restrictive license which google simply does not offer. That alone will create demand for satellite imagery by mapping providers like MapBox as their customers want that.
How many contributors does OpenStreetMap need?
From what I've been able to discern, OSM's road data is reasonably complete. Place data perhaps not as much. Is that the gap that you foresee additional contributors filling?
Road data is largely complete in Western Europe and getting there in Eastern Europe. In much of the US, it's still raw USGS TIGER data, which is very low quality and needs fixing. Asia, South America etc. are much patchier.
Address coverage is almost universally poor.
POI coverage is patchy: landmarks are often well surveyed, businesses less so.