Ordnance Survey offers free use of map data

Britain’s Ordnance Survey (OS) mapping agency is making its data freely available in a major about-turn caused partly by increased competition from the likes of Google Maps.

It has launched an enhanced portal, OS Openspace, which allows businesses, government organisations and individuals to use and application programming interface (API) to use data on sites and other media.

The site includes sample Java code that can be incorprated into web pages and for the first time boundary information on areas such as wards, boroughs, constituencies is freely available.

An ‘innovation network’ called Geovation has been set up to allow OS users develop ideas, collaborate and get financial backing.

Also OS co-ordinates, which are owned by the organisation, can now be used in GPS systems – something that should result in fewer people getting lost when walking across countryside.

Ordnance Survey, which has it roots in 18th century military survey projects, gave Britain some of the best and best-loved maps in the world. But it has been widely criticised for charges and restrictions on use of its data since 1999 when it was set up as a so-called Trading Fund, which meant that it had to pay its way like a business.

It was widely perceived as having a monopoly on UK geographical data, though this position has been undermined by DIY sites such as OpenStreetMap and PeoplesMap that allow you to build maps from aerial photos.

A government review last month, called the Trading Funds Assessment, outlined a strategy for creating simpler and easier access to geographic data, though it concluded that the quality of OS data was more likely to be maintained using a commercial model rather than through public funding.

This means the OS still needs to fund itself. So users will have to pay for the use of data from which they are then directly making money, for instance by charging for a service. And sites getting more than a threshold number of visitors will incur charges – see the OS site for details.

The new strategy is unlikely to settle one irritation. Local authorities are unable to superimpose on to Google maps OS-based information on the location of local facilities. The reason, according to an OS spokesman, is that Google claims the right to reproduce any such information freely worldwide – effectively taking ownership of it. “We don’t have that problem with Microsoft maps,” said the spokesman.