In another major Maps push, Apple seeking dozens of Ground Truth specialists

OS X Mavericks (Maps, Send to iOS teaser)

A bunch of job ads surfaced earlier today on Apple’s website, advertising positions on the company’s Maps team. The iPhone maker is seeking so-called ground truth specialists around the world to help correct address and landmark inaccuracies.

Apple is looking for people “with a passion for mapping, great testing skills, and deep regional knowledge to help us build better and better maps”.

Ideal candidates will be responsible for the quality assessment of Apple’s Maps in their region, including both data and map services…

More than a dozen new positions, first spotted by iGen.fr, mention monitoring changes to Apple Maps, providing feedback on “unique local map requirements”, collecting ground truth information and evaluating competing products.

Ideal candidates poses “detailed knowledge of the unique features of your local area, including preferred place names, prominent businesses, public services, seasonal events, driving routes, landmarks, and road names”.

What’s a ground truth specialist?

According to Wikipedia, ground truth denotes collecting data on location and comparing it to remote data like satellite imagery, basically confirming the stuff shown on satellite maps exists in reality.

Apple appears to be specifically interested in ground truth specialists in major cities around the globe, like Paris, Rome, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, Santiago, Dublin, Shanghai, Berlin, Istanbul, Moscow, Beijing, Taipei, Madrid, Singapore and more.

It’s yet another indication of Apple moving to beef up its Maps team to address some of the concerns surrounding the accuracy of its data.

Back in February and again in March Apple was looking for ground truth managers and mapping specialists in a big push to alleviate some of the criticism surrounding inaccurate map data, missing features and other pressing issues.