Government announces new 10-year Public Sector Geospatial Agreement with Ordnance Survey
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Geospatial data, which is data linked to location, underpins
Britain’s public services such as emergency planning, building our
homes, protecting our environment, supporting our transport and
helping our security services to keep us safe. Today the Geospatial
Commission has announced it is increasing the location data
available to the public sector across England and Wales.
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Geospatial data, which is data linked to location, underpins Britain’s public services such as emergency planning, building our homes, protecting our environment, supporting our transport and helping our security services to keep us safe. Today the Geospatial Commission has announced it is increasing the location data available to the public sector across England and Wales. Any public sector organisations ranging from health and emergency services, town, parish, and community councils through to central government departments can sign up via Ordnance Survey to use the data, free at the point of use. Known as the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement, it will be delivered by the national mapping agency, Ordnance Survey and will start from 1 April 2020. Director of the Geospatial Commission, Thalia Baldwin, said “The Geospatial Commission was created in 2018 to make sure the UK maximises the opportunity location data presents for society, the economy and the environment. The new agreement meets our commitment to improve access to Ordnance Survey’s core data to start-ups, businesses and innovators. It means that the public and private sectors will have improved access to the accurate and detailed mapping data they rely on today to support even more innovative, efficient and effective delivery of public services.” Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, Steve Blair, added “We’re looking forward to delivering the new agreement and continuing to put OS data at the centre of decision making across the public and private sector. With this long-term investment, we can make our world-leading geospatial data even easier to access, use and share. It will enable us to capture and manage new levels of data which will support emerging markets, customers and innovation. “Across Great Britain OS is helping to deliver value to thousands of customers, and I am looking forward to seeing how they will work with the new data to support their business and service delivery. I will be keeping an especially close eye on how new customers and start-ups innovate with the data to generate real economic value for Great Britain.” From the 1 July 2020 businesses will be able to access, free up to a threshold, OS MasterMap data through a series of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Geospatial Commission to release core identifiers under Open Government Licence Just like everyone has a national insurance number and every vehicle a number plate, every address has a Unique Property Reference Number and every street has its own Unique Street Reference Number. They are the golden thread of the UK’s world-leading addressing system. To recognise their importance, the Open Standards Board has mandated that they will now be the standard way of referencing and sharing information about properties and streets across government to improve services and outcomes for citizens such as helping to improve fraud detection, creating better waste collection routes, more accurate insurance quotes and house buying processes. Minister for Housing Rt Hon Christopher Pincher said: “I am delighted by today’s announcement and encouraged by the new opportunities this presents to digitally transform public services and boost our economy. “This is the most powerful boost for the UK PropTech sector in a generation, unlocking new levels of digital innovation on a national scale. Open identifiers are crucial for tech entrepreneurs and wider industry – they will enable housing developers to find sites that have the most potential, helping deliver much-needed new homes across the country. “This is an important milestone in the Government’s commitment to maximising the value of geospatial data.” |