CARTO is a leading cloud-native Location Intelligence platform designed to enhance and streamline spatial data analysis, visualization, and application development. Here’s a comprehensive overview of what CARTO does and its key features:
What CARTO Does
CARTO enables organizations to leverage spatial data for various business applications, including optimizing delivery routes, enhancing behavioral marketing, strategic store placements, and predicting future outcomes through Spatial Data Science. It is tailored for use by Data Scientists, Developers, and Analysts to optimize business processes and make data-driven decisions.
Key Features and Functionality
Cloud-Native Integration
CARTO runs natively on top of major cloud data warehouse platforms such as Google BigQuery, Snowflake, AWS Redshift, and cloud-based PostgreSQL databases. This integration eliminates the need for data migration or complex ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes, allowing users to access and analyze spatial data directly within their existing data warehouse infrastructure.
Advanced Spatial Analytics
The platform offers over 100 ready-to-go analysis components, including advanced spatial functions grouped into modules like tiler, data, clustering, and statistics. These components are part of the CARTO Analytics Toolbox, which expands the geospatial capabilities of the underlying data warehouse.
Visualizations and Mapping
CARTO allows users to build performant, interactive map visualizations without limitations on data volumes. It employs dynamic and static tiling strategies to ensure smooth rendering of large datasets. The platform also supports spatial indexing techniques like H3, optimizing data transformations, enrichment, and analysis.
Workflow Automation
CARTO Workflows is a visual model builder that enables users to create complex spatial analyses and data preparation workflows without writing code. Workflows can be triggered via API calls, allowing integration into larger orchestrated processes and embedding asynchronous analytical capabilities into web applications.
Data Import and Management
The platform includes enhanced data importing capabilities, such as the “Import from URL” component, which allows users to import data directly from public URLs. This feature supports workflows running on schedules or executed via API, providing robust and automated data management options.
Security and Governance
CARTO inherits data and user access controls from the underlying cloud data warehouse, ensuring streamlined security and governance. This approach maintains the integrity and security of the data while simplifying user management.
Machine Learning and GenAI
CARTO integrates cloud-native Large Language Models (LLMs) and Machine Learning models to enhance productivity and provide quicker insights. This integration leverages the computational power of the cloud to drive advanced analytics and automation.
App Development and Customization
For developers, CARTO offers a complete library of APIs, frameworks, connectors, and development tools to accelerate spatial app development. The platform supports popular frameworks like Angular, React, and Vue, and includes features like deck.gl for building scalable and interactive geospatial applications. New features include the ability to add scalable, interactive charts and widgets to geospatial applications, which can be easily synced with the map and other widgets.
Education and Monitoring
CARTO has introduced the CARTO Academy to provide educational resources and training. Additionally, the new CARTO Activity Data feature allows administrators to monitor and analyze how their organization is using CARTO, providing insights into user engagement, feature usage, and quota consumption.
In summary, CARTO is a powerful tool for organizations looking to leverage spatial data for enhanced decision-making, optimized business processes, and advanced data visualization, all within a cloud-native and highly scalable environment.
