CARTO for Databricks: True Native Geospatial for the Lakehouse

The geospatial analytics landscape is evolving rapidly, fueled by advances in data architectures, machine learning and AI. Today, we're excited to announce general availability of CARTO’s spatial analytics platform for Databricks, the first ever geospatial solution powered by native integrations with Databricks’ photon-accelerated Spatial SQL. Databricks users will now have access to low-code workflows, vector and raster data processing and analysis, map-making and app development tools - with all running natively within their Lakehouse!

By combining the robust processing capabilities of the Databricks Lakehouse Platform with CARTO’s leading spatial analytics and visualization tools, this integration promises to transform how organizations leverage spatial data at scale, allowing them to achieve unprecedented speed, flexibility, and scalability for Location Intelligence. In line with CARTO’s truly cloud-native architecture, this integration fully embraces the Unity Catalog vision, which means that all the data is flowing through Unity Catalog and governance surface is fully maintained within the Lakehouse - no more spatial data silos! We’re now excited to see what Databricks users build with CARTO and how they get the most out of their spatial data.

In this blog post we will provide an overview on what CARTO’s integration provides to Databricks users and why our native approach is unique. Keep reading if you’re ready to extend the geospatial capabilities of your Lakehouse!

Working with spatial data has often been a cumbersome experience, requiring complex ETL processes and specialized tools that aren’t built for scale. Databricks’ Lakehouse architecture breaks through these limitations by providing a unified platform for structured and unstructured data. CARTO’s native integration with Databricks elevates geospatial analytics by enabling organizations to perform spatial operations directly within the Lakehouse environment - without the need for extensive data movement or external systems.

This native integration is designed to fully leverage the power of Databricks, combining distributed computing with advanced spatial analysis, visualization and developer tools. CARTO allows users to leverage spatial data seamlessly, whether working with large and complex geospatial datasets or building sophisticated location-based applications. Unlike solutions that merely connect to retrieve data from the platform, CARTO’s approach is built to maximize the potential of Databricks' Lakehouse, ensuring optimal performance for spatial analytics at any scale.

In addition to performance benefits, the CARTO platform also integrates with Databricks' Unity Catalog, providing a unified governance layer for geospatial data. This means that all spatial data, whether in use or in transit, is managed within a single, secure framework, ensuring compliance, auditability, and full control over data access. By incorporating governance directly into the Lakehouse platform, CARTO empowers organizations to meet stringent data privacy requirements while enabling widespread access to geospatial insights across teams.

By removing traditional barriers to geospatial analysis, the CARTO and Databricks integration doesn’t just simplify geospatial data processing—it redefines it.

CARTO’s integration with Databricks brings scalable geospatial analytics directly to the Databricks environment, streamlining workflows and eliminating the need for data movement. This integration enables the following key benefits:

• End-to-end efficiency: By integrating directly with Databricks, CARTO eliminates the need for costly data movement and time-consuming ETL processes. Spatial analysis, data processing, and visualization occur in one environment, dramatically improving workflow efficiency and reducing latency.
• Accessibility for all users: CARTO democratizes geospatial analytics with its low-code tools. These include CARTO Builder - which allows users of any technical background to create interactive maps and run spatial analyses through a drag-and-drop interface - and CARTO Workflows, our no-code spatial analysis tool for automating complex geospatial processes.
• Performance at scale: CARTO’s Analytics Toolbox fully leverages Databricks’ distributed computing and Lakehouse architecture to execute large-scale spatial operations quickly and efficiently, reducing computation times and boosting overall performance. Our Analytics Toolbox for Databricks takes spatial analytics to the next level by incorporating powerful libraries like Apache Sedona, CARTO tilers and Quadbin Spatial Indexing along with native Databricks APIs. Instead of just delivering a Spark framework that “happens” to run on Databricks, Analytics Toolbox has been purpose-built to uniquely prioritize the use of Databricks Spatial SQL wherever possible for ultimate performance.
• Enterprise-Grade Security and Governance: With Databricks’ Unity Catalog, CARTO ensures secure data governance, providing centralized control over permissions and data access. This simplifies compliance and governance for organizations working with sensitive spatial data, offering full audit trails for all workflows.
• Access to Curated Spatial Data: CARTO’s Data Observatory gives Databricks users direct access to a wide range of third-party geospatial datasets, including data on human mobility, financial spend, demographics, and more. This rapidly reduces the time and cost of data discovery and enrichment, and allows for easy integration through the platform’s Delta Share technology.‍
• Scalable Application Development: CARTO’s App Development tools empower developers to build highly scalable geospatial applications within Databricks. These tools, supported by embedded tiling technology and frameworks like deck.gl, allow for the seamless handling of massive datasets while ensuring robust security and performance.

By bringing these features together, CARTO enhances the geospatial capabilities of Databricks, enabling teams to perform advanced spatial analysis, automate workflows, and build scalable applications—all within a secure and high-performance environment. Hear more about this integration in 2024's Spatial Data Science Conference here.

The CARTO integration with Databricks enables organizations to leverage Location Intelligence for critical decision-making. Some key use cases include:

• Financial Services: enrich and analyze spatial data to assess risks to investments and improve investing strategies by analyzing factors such as portfolio risk, economic activity and  proximity to financial hubs.
• Insurance: analyze risk, optimize coverage areas, detect fraud and predict claims by analyzing historical data and environmental patterns.
• Telecommunications: enhance network planning through analyzing customer density, service demand, and competitor infrastructure. With CARTO’s spatial aggregation and clustering tools, telcos can enhance their network deployment strategies, pinpoint underserved areas, and improve signal coverage in high-traffic zones.
• Logistics and Supply Chain: optimize delivery routes, fleet management, and warehouse locations to reduce operational costs, improve delivery times, and enhance last-mile delivery efficiency, ensuring that resources are allocated in the most effective way across complex supply chains.

These use cases demonstrate how CARTO on Databricks empowers organizations in finance, insurance, telecommunications, and logistics to drive smarter decisions through scalable, real-time geospatial analytics.

It’s really easy to start leveraging this native integration. CARTO’s Analytics Toolbox can be easily installed in your Databricks workspace free of charge, allowing use of its functions within Databricks compute clusters. To unlock the full suite of geospatial capabilities of the CARTO platform, access a 14-day free trial and set up a Databricks connection in your CARTO organization. Whether you’re looking to run spatial queries, generate complex geospatial visualizations, or build machine learning models on spatial data, this integration empowers you to do it all from one unified platform.

You can also request a demo and one of our geospatial experts will guide you through this integration and how you can get started on a completely new experience of working with spatial data in Databricks.

This is just the beginning. CARTO’s native integration for Databricks will continue to evolve, with upcoming features and enhancements to further simplify spatial data workflows and unlock new possibilities for Location Intelligence at scale.

If you're ready to transform your geospatial workflows, check out our documentation and give it a try. Want to learn more? Join our upcoming webinar on leveraging the power of CARTO in Databricks!