Event welcomes new mapping agreement for Scotland

14 July 2009, 4:15pm

An event to mark the launch of the One Scotland Mapping Agreement, jointly hosted by the Scottish Government the Improvement Service and Ordnance Survey, has been held in the Tolbooth, Stirling.

The new agreement, which covers 73 organisations within Central and Local Government, as well as some Scottish NHS organisations, provides easy access to a range of Ordnance Survey products to help deliver public services.

Almost 70 delegates came to witness Duncan MacNiven, Chair of the Geography Steering Group and Registrar General for Scotland, open the event before a keynote speech from James Brayshaw, Ordnance Survey’s Director responsible for the Agreement.

James comments: “Thanks to the One Scotland Mapping Agreement public services in Scotland will now have greater and more flexible access to geographic information than ever before. We wanted to bring the member organisations together to make sure that they are all able to get the most out of our products within it and, perhaps most importantly, understand the new terms that allow for greater data sharing between members.”

The One Scotland Mapping Agreement is the first time that all public sector organisations in Scotland have licensed Ordnance Survey products under a single agreement. The four year partnership replaces the local government Mapping Services Agreement and the Pan Government Agreement for central government and provides common terms for all the member organisations therefore ensuring much greater opportunities for data sharing between those organisations who increasingly work in partnership with one another.

The One Scotland agreement includes a broad range of Ordnance Survey products, including OS MasterMap Topography and Integrated Transport Network Layers as well as almost all the supporting scales of contextual digital mapping. These products 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.

Delegates also had the opportunity to pose questions to Ordnance Survey’s John Kimmance, Head of Sales for the Public Sector. This allowed delegates to learn about the benefits of the new licensing terms. For those members that were new to using geographic information there were then practical demonstrations showing the range of products available and the way in which these can support and improve the provision of services.

More information on the agreement and the use of geographic information in Scotland can visit www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/scotland

www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/scotland

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