New era for government GI use in England & Wales

05 August 2010, 3:24pm

Public sector organisations in England and Wales will have access to Ordnance Survey mapping data under a single agreement for the first time from April 2011.

Local and central government organisations, as well as NHS organisations, will now benefit from being part of a single agreement for Ordnance Survey data. This new agreement, known as the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA) for England & Wales, includes over 750 organisations, with provision for 1,000s more, and will result in significant cost savings for the public sector and greater data sharing.

On 31 March 2010 the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) published the Government’s response to its consultation on policy options for geographic information (GI) from Ordnance Survey, and OS OpenData was launched on 1 April. In its response, CLG set out its intention to move to a PSMA with Ordnance Survey. Since the publication CLG and Ordnance Survey have been developing a framework for a single agreement for England and Wales. A transition plan for the PSMA can be viewed by visiting the link below.

The new PSMA is expected to deliver significant efficiency savings and improvements in public service delivery for the benefit of individuals and businesses in England and Wales. The agreement will increase transparency and efficiency of the public sector by enabling more effective joint working between public sector bodies, as well as widening access to GI. The new agreement also introduces a new licensing framework that will enable more collaborative working with delivery partners and will allow public sector organisations to re-use the data for core non-commercial public sector activities. It will also enable sharing of the data, and derived data, with other third parties for specific purposes to support delivery of the member’s public sector activity, for example, contractors, schools, ‘third sector’ charities, the public, for all your core, non-commercial, public sector activity.

The new deal replaces the local government Mapping Services Agreement, the Pan Government Agreement for central government and the NHS Digital Mapping Agreement. It will benefit many public sector organisations and groups including schools, third sector organisations working on government projects, town and parish councils and UK Search and Rescue members including Mountain Rescue England and Wales and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Vanessa Lawrence CB, Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, says: “The Public Sector Mapping Agreement will enable a different type of relationship between Ordnance Survey and public sector end users of our data. It will provide public services with greater and more flexible access to geographic information than ever before helping to drive innovation and underpin key public services. We are already seeing the benefits of this type of relationship in Scotland, where a similar agreement has been in place for just over a year. As a result of the agreement the public sector in Scotland have benefited from the ability to quickly and easily share geographic information making it easier for organisations to work together. This will undoubtedly be of great benefit to both the public and the organisations and staff providing services in the public sector."

The PSMA includes a broad range of Ordnance Survey data, including OS MasterMap Topography and Integrated Transport Network Layers as well as almost all the supporting scales of mapping. In addition, all public sector organisations will have unrestricted access to OS OpenData, where they can download and order a range of raster and vector mapping datasets. These include the detailed 1:10 000 scale OS Street View, Boundary-Line, which provides the electoral and administrative geography of the country, and Meridian 2 and Strategi, which offer customisable views of Britain’s topography.

The PSMA datasets will support a diverse range of services, including land registration, grant and subsidy management, environmental protection, habitat mapping, emergency planning and response, community development initiatives, the digital television switch over and the provision of health and social care services.

Sir Rob Margetts CBE, Ordnance Survey’s Non-Executive Chairman, adds: “I am very enthusiastic about the Public Sector Mapping Agreement for England and Wales. The agreement will enable Ordnance Survey to continue to invest in, and develop, high-quality GI data that is relied on by customers in both the public and private sectors.”

Chris Holcroft, Director and Chief Executive of the Association of Geographical Information comments: “The Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA) offers enormous opportunity to help maximise the use of geographic information for the benefit of the nation. Breaking down barriers and better enabling data sharing, the PSMA should help the public sector make better and more transparent decisions and allocate its resources more efficiently, saving time and money. In addition it should stimulate and diversify private sector opportunities to develop related geographic information products and services. All these are important factors for real social and economic benefits and for wealth generation and innovation in these challenging economic times."

PMSA Transition Plan

Geo: International