Carto

Carto, originally known as CartoDB, is a cloud-based location intelligence platform that helps organizations turn geospatial data into insights through interactive maps, spatial analysis, and dashboards. It provides a managed environment for storing, querying, and visualizing large geospatial datasets and is used to communicate complex spatial patterns to a broad audience.

The platform supports data ingestion from multiple formats such as CSV, GeoJSON, shapefiles, and PostGIS-enabled databases. It offers SQL-based querying, spatial operations, clustering, heatmaps, isochrones, and other analytics to derive insights from geographic data. Developers can embed maps and visualizations in applications using libraries and APIs such as Carto.js and the Maps API, and users can publish dashboards for collaboration and sharing. Carto also integrates with PostgreSQL/PostGIS for in-database spatial processing and provides a hosted data store and management tools.

Carto has a history of evolving from an open mapping project to a broader enterprise location intelligence platform. It has supported an ecosystem of open-source libraries and a data marketplace component, including curated datasets through its Data Observatory. These elements aim to complement already-available datasets with geographic context for more informed decision-making.

Applications span various domains, including urban planning, retail site selection, logistics, and telecom network optimization. Carto emphasizes accessibility for non-specialists while offering advanced capabilities for data scientists and GIS professionals, making location data more actionable across industries.