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Open Science

Interoperable, standards-compliant platforms are essential for advancing science

Did you know that Esri currently leverages and contributes to over 200 open-source projects while delivering over 350 open-source projects of its own? Many of these are science-based projects, and Esri software provides direct read, import, and export for over 300 formats, including over 200 image formats and sensors. We support over 100 geospatial standards (including from ISO/TC 211 and OGC) and provide open access to scores of APIs and SDKs. We value an open, interoperable, and standards-compliant platform strategy and believe it is essential for open science.

Learn about Esri's Open Vision

Open source and interoperability standards

Watch Esri president Jack Dangermond and standards product manager/open strategist Satish Sankaran discuss standards, interoperability, open data, Python APIs, open software libraries and Esri's participation in open science going forward.

Watch the video

Esri is natively open source

The scientific community is very interested in leveraging open-source code and solutions with Esri technology. However, many are still surprised to hear that Esri produces free, open-source products such as Esri Geoportal Server. Esri has a significant presence on GitHub with our open-source stack and examples of projects that use open source to accelerate our work.

  • App builders: Esri Story Maps, ArcGIS Web AppBuilder
  • Visualisations: Esri Leaflet, CedarJS
  • Data serving: Koop
  • Analysis: Limited Error Raster Compression (LERC), NumPy, R, Spark, Hadoop and Geometry Engine
Get Esri Geoportal Server
View Esri resources on GitHub

Integration with R

R, also known as the R Project for Statistical Computing, is the extremely popular and fastest growing environment for statistical computing, including within a range of environmental sciences. Esri's membership in the R Consortium made the list of biggest R stories for 2016, and the new R ArcGIS bridge, now compatible with Microsoft R Open, is more valuable than ever for advancing the capabilities of analyses across multiple disciplines.

Explore the R ArcGIS Bridge
Take an R ArcGIS Bridge lesson

Python for open science

Python is used for all things geospatial, from data conversion and automation to exploratory data analysis, space-time analysis and geocomputation. Esri's ArcGIS API for Python lets you engage with data, analytics and visualisation through a clean Python API. Python raster functions, a curated set of lightweight but powerful tools, enable on-the-fly image processing and raster analysis in ArcGIS.

Explore ArcGIS API for Python
Get Python raster functions

Notebooks for open science

Notebooks have become a crucial tool in the Python and data science communities. Jupyter Notebooks are favoured among Python users for their seamless integration with some of the most important Python libraries in a structure that encourages efficient prototyping and visualisation. There are many types of Python notebooks, so look for more variations in the future.

Use Jupyter Notebooks with GIS
How to get Jupyter Notebooks

52°North and Esri

Esri is proud to be a stakeholder and partner of 52°North. An open-source software initiative and international open-science network, 52°North unites partners from research, industry and public administration, focusing on geoinformatics research and innovation. Recent collaborations have focused on interoperable processing of sensor data and the advancement of spatial data infrastructures.

Visit 52°North's website
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