SPRL GEO-6 BVBA

SPRL GEO-6 BVBA, trading as GEO-6, is a Belgian limited company active in the field of geographic information systems (GIS). Its core business is the integration and implementation of geographic information within the working environments of organizations — a process the company frames as essential given that, in its own words, around 80% of the data held by most companies is geographical. GEO-6 has worked for more than fifteen years on custom-made projects tailored to each organization's needs, drawing on skills in geographic data processing, web services and applications, geocoding and geostatistics, and routing optimization. A defining characteristic of GEO-6 is its commitment to open source. Rather than relying on expensive commercial GIS products, the company builds and distributes its services on open-source tools, aiming to deliver lightweight, dedicated, fast web applications at lower cost. Its engineering experience in geographic information and its mastery of open-source software allow it to implement solutions in full independence from proprietary vendors. GEO-6's projects span several sectors of a company's activity: environment, transport and logistics, infrastructure management, crisis management, and marketing and communication. The company describes a collaborative approach through which expertise is developed and shared with its customers over the years; most of its clients have become long-term partners. Among its notable offerings, GEO-6 hosts and manages the tile server of OpenStreetMap Belgium, operates WMS/WMTS/WFS services for customers using open-source programs such as MapServer, GeoServer, MapCache and MapProxy, and develops the Mapper web application for visualizing and querying cartographic data. It also maintains a Belgian address database and geocoding API, and contributes modules to the Geocoder PHP library, including providers for Belgian official geocoding APIs and the French Government's geocoding API. The company positions itself as a pragmatic, pro-active partner that prioritizes the organizations it collaborates with.

SPRL GEO-6 BVBA is a Belgian limited company (the name combines the French 'SPRL' and Dutch 'BVBA' legal forms used in Belgium) active in geographic information systems. According to its own presentation, the company has worked for more than fifteen years on the development of custom-made projects adapted to the needs of each organization, placing at their disposal its skills in geographic data processing, services and web applications, geocoding and geostatistics, and routing optimization. From its early activity, GEO-6 made a deliberate bet on open source to build and distribute its services. Its experience in geographic information engineering and its mastery of open-source tools allow it to implement simple solutions in total independence from expensive commercial products. This open-source orientation shaped its product line: over time the company developed and hosted a range of geospatial services and applications. Among these, GEO-6 has for several years hosted various WMS (Web Map Service), WMTS (Web Map Tile Service) and WFS (Web Feature Service) services for its customers, using Open Geospatial Consortium standards and mainly open-source programs such as MapServer, GeoServer, MapCache and MapProxy. It also hosts and manages the tile server of OpenStreetMap Belgium at tile.geo6.be, using the same stack as the OpenStreetMap.org tile server (Mapnik and CartoCSS style sheets), with a style limited to Belgium and offering names in French and Dutch. Since the end of 2020, tile generation has been fully automated using Ansible, covering package and library installation, import and processing of OpenStreetMap data, tile generation and copying to the production server. For more than ten years, GEO-6 has offered clients the Mapper web application to visualize and query cartographic data. Mapper can load, view and query layers from files (GeoJSON, KML, GPX, CSV, etc.) and from online cartographic services (WMS, WMTS, etc.), choose a background map from a configurable list (OpenStreetMap, aerial photos, IGN, UrbIS, GRB, PICC, or any other tile server), search for an address via configurable geocoding services or by clicking on the map, and draw and measure distances and surfaces. Its source code is open and available on GitHub. In the domain of addresses and geocoding, GEO-6 has for more than fifteen years integrated the three Belgian regional address databases — UrbIS for Brussels, CRAB for Flanders, and PICC/ICAR for Wallonia — with their different structures, into a single database containing addresses from all over Belgium. It developed a geocoding API allowing address and point-of-interest search, reverse geocoding, and aggregation of additional information based on administrative codes such as the NIS code of a municipality; access is secured with JSON Web Tokens. GEO-6 also contributed modules to the widely used Geocoder PHP library, including providers for Belgian official geocoding APIs (bpost, GeoPunt, Service Public de Wallonie, UrbIS) and for the French Government's official geocoding API. Through its multiple creative projects, GEO-6 touches on different sectors of a company: environment, transport and logistics, infrastructure management, crisis management, and marketing and communication. Its collaborative approach has allowed it to develop, over the years, an expertise shared with its customers, most of whom have become long-term partners. The company describes itself as committed to providing companies with lightweight, dedicated, fast web applications at lower cost, with a pragmatic and pro-active analysis that always gives priority to the organization with which it collaborates.

• GEO-6 begins developing custom-made GIS projects for organizations, building expertise over more than fifteen years.

• GEO-6 hosts and manages the tile server of OpenStreetMap Belgium at tile.geo6.be.

• Since the end of 2020, tile generation is fully automated using Ansible.

• GEO-6 offers the Mapper web application for more than ten years.

• GEO-6 integrates the three Belgian regional address databases (UrbIS, CRAB, PICC/ICAR) into a single national database over more than fifteen years.

Open-source, pragmatic GIS integrator delivering lightweight, dedicated, low-cost web applications independent of expensive commercial products.

• WMS/WMTS/WFS services

  Hosted OGC-standard map services for displaying and querying map layers, using open-source programs such as MapServer, GeoServer, MapCache and MapProxy.

• Tile server (OpenStreetMap Belgium)

  Hosts and manages the OpenStreetMap Belgium tile server at tile.geo6.be, using Mapnik and CartoCSS, limited to Belgium with French and Dutch names, and automated with Ansible since end of 2020.

• Mapper

  Web application to load, view and query cartographic data from files (GeoJSON, KML, GPX, CSV) and online services (WMS, WMTS), with configurable background maps, address search, drawing and measurement tools; open source on GitHub.

• Geocoding API

  API for address and point-of-interest search, reverse geocoding, and aggregation of administrative information (e.g. NIS code), secured with JSON Web Tokens; documentation at api-v2.geo6.be.

• Geocoder PHP provider modules

  Modules for the Geocoder PHP library covering Belgian official geocoding APIs (bpost, GeoPunt, SPW, UrbIS) and the French Government's official geocoding API.

1. 1GEO-6 - Presentationgeo6.be
2. 2GEO-6 - WMS/WMTS/WFS services and Tile servergeo6.be
3. 3GEO-6 - Mappergeo6.be
4. 4GEO-6 - Addresses and Geocodinggeo6.be
5. 5SPRL GEO-6 BVBA - Wikidatawikidata.org