Over the past several years, there has been a lot of discussion about why automation in cartography is important or whether or not it is even possible to automate important, recurring tasks in the production and updating of maps. The main reasons why a further exploration of automation in cartography makes sense is twofold: one, because it offers a possibility for timely and consistent creation and updating of map and data products in a landscape of rapid change and two, because it opens up the potential for new uses of location-based data and maps.