Key parts of Ordnance Survey’s (OS) highly detailed OS MasterMap are being made completely open under the Open Government Licence (OGL), with the remaining data being made freely available up to a threshold of transactions. This work will release GBP 130m pa of economic value.
Making OS MasterMap available in this way is based on addressing the barriers identified through user research with start-ups and small businesses in particular. This research with both current and potential users of OS MasterMap identified four major barriers to its use:
By addressing these barriers to use, these changes will enable businesses of all sizes to access not only OS’s high-quality data, but to also geospatial data more widely to unlock economic value. In particular:
To further boost the digital economy, the government will work with the Ordnance Survey (OS) and the new Commission, by May 2018, to establish how to open up freely the OS MasterMap data to UK-based small businesses in particular, under an Open Government Licence or through an alternative mechanism, while maintaining the OS’s strategic strengths. The Budget provides GBP 40 million a year over the next two years to support this work.
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