Paper maps always are directed north / magnetic north. When digital maps started to appear in GPS car systems, the maps still showed north; a point was added indicating where we were located exactly.
Than the complete digital map revolution started to represent the map according to the viewer location , first in 2D than in 3D. On top of the map appeared the direction the car is heading to, no longer always north.
The next step was to add contextual information, relevant to the journey of the car, like traffic accidents, and to provide actionable alternatives. This meant a data revolution with fast feedback loop, and where everyone is a sender and receiver of information, a kind of collective intelligence in the race for 1 minute less on the road.
This is what I would call the customer centricity of a map, meaning that the whole view of the earth - sorry Mercator- is permanently wrapped around the customer and his viewpoint and interests at that moment.
To move from paper maps needed a lot of technology (devices, GPS, graphic interfaces, telecommunication networks, data management) , but than also a mindshift.
This shift is a nice example of what is happening in a lot of areas, or still need to become. Look at retail where you don't have to stroll in the alleys of Amazon store to find what you need, the products are wrapped around the customer current and past experience; and compare that to the visit of a large shop like Carrefour, where you have to follow the little arrows to find your products, and the whole shopping experience is made to make it difficult for you to make your shop (e.g. the famous gondolas - products at the end of the alley to attract you), or push you to do impulse buys at the cash counter.
Customer centricity from A to Z, still a huge work in progress. And no longer only North because it used to be like that.
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