Beyond the Buzz: Cloud-native geo

#CloudNativeGeo is everywhere, but does it live up to the hype? Lukas Merz takes a sharp look at formats like #COG, #FlatGeoBuf, #GeoParquet, and #PMTiles, and helps you decide when #cloudnative is the right tool for the job.
Author

Ralph Straumann

Published

February 25, 2026

From Lukas Merz comes an interesting article1 on the paradigm “du jour”, cloud-native2 geospatial. The article is titled “Cloud-native geospatial: What it can do, what it can’t do – and when you really need it”. While the article is in German, browser translation should work well. From the text:

In the world of geodata, “cloud-native” has become a buzzword. At conferences, in product brochures, and in LinkedIn posts, it sounds as if the future of geoinformation has already been decided (…) It’s time to take a closer look. This blog post aims to provide an honest assessment. What is behind the term? Where are its real strengths? Where are the limitations? And when is it simply better to stick with traditional approaches?

In the article, Lukas provides a brief overview of several prominent cloud-native formats :

Solar potential on roofs can be read on-the-fly from a FlatGeoBuf file weighing 5 GB (source: Lukas Merz)

The article goes on to explain where #cloudnativegeo excels, where it falls short, and when it’s the right choice.

In my view, this is a balanced, informative, and timely piece that gives cloud-native geospatial its due while cleanly cutting through the hype. Recommended reading for anyone interested in the future of geospatial data management and dissemination.

Footnotes

  1. Transparency note: Lukas is a colleague of mine at EBP.↩︎

  2. I.e., taking full advantage of the cloud computing model; in the data world typically through enabling partial downloads of file contents through so-called HTTP range requests↩︎