Ordnance Survey 'Free Data' Consultation

[poschiavanus]

I imagine many WABbers are, like me, enthusiastic users of Ordnance Survey maps, both on-line and on-paper.

The government currently has a consultation running as to whether some Ordnance Survey data should be made more open. The consultation closes on 17 March. This is part of an initiative to open government data led by Sir Tim Berners-Lee (of World Wide Web fame).

The whys and wherefores are pretty complex, and depending on their interests people will certainly have a wide range of views, so I don't want to go into detail. There's already plenty of commentary on the web.

Suffice it to say that the proposals offer lots of tantalising possibilities (e.g., use of OS Maps and data on websites), but also some threats to the status quo (specifically, paper maps of less-frequented areas - paragraph 7.32 of consultation document). I therefore thought this might be of interest to WABbers, whether as naturalists, ramblers, cyclists, conservation volunteer or professionals.

Posch

[poschiavanus]

A belated update on this.

A large amount of Ordnance Survey data has been made available as of 1st April (a bit quick given the consultation closing date). To save repeating a lot of stuff which is already on the web, I'd recommend Mapperz blog entry as a place to start: Mapping News by Mapperz

The OS data page is located here: Browse data held by Ordnance Survey | data.gov.uk.

Using this data immediately may require a considerable amount of technical know-how, but within the next few months it is expected that this will start to be incorporated into data sharing websites, such as OpenStreetMap.

Unfortunately, what is missing are public footpaths and, I believe, field boundaries: both of particular value for those interested in wild life. On the other hand the rules about derived data are being relaxed which may allow sharing of detailed vegetation surveys, SSSI/ASSI boundaries and similar data.