Office of Public Sector Information

Posted by: Daniel Yates

Public Sector Information Holder: Ordnance Survey

Information Asset: Points of interest data

The problem

Ordnance Survey hold an extensive database of UK points of interest classified into hundreds of different categories.

The minimum value for a 'specific use contract' is £5k, making the database inaccessible to all but the best-funded sites.

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/products/pointsofinterest/

My ideal solution

Either free data or, taking into account the cost of collection, variable pricing depending on the nature and quantity of records in each dataset.

What I would do

Use certain POI data in mashup form.

Posted by: Bill Chadwick, wheresthepath.googlepages.com

Public Sector Information Holder: Ordnance Survey

Information Asset: Administrative boundaries for UK

The problem

Community web mashups like FixMyStreet need to be able to attribute issues to a local authority/council by geographic location.

My ideal solution

Local council/authority bondary GIS polygon data to be in the public domian - free for any use.

What I would do

Build a 'TrafficRant' site where issues with local traffic flow can be logged by the public and brought to the attention of the appropriate local authority.

Posted by: Matthew

Public Sector Information Holder: Ordnance Survey

Information Asset: Electoral Boundary Data

The problem

I find it odd that if I want to know the actual boundary of the ward or constituency I am in (co-ordinates, not just an image), I have to pay Ordnance Survey lots of money for their Boundary-Line product. I would have thought that, given it's quite important to know which MP or councillors I'm going to have the option of electing, that this information should be freely available as part of a healthy democracy; it's compiled by the various publicly funded Boundary Commissions/Committees as far as I know.

My ideal solution

I think the actual data rather than just images of the boundaries should be available, so that people can create things using the data - you can't do anything with images besides display them. For example, I can't create a Google map (using their My Maps feature) of my ward marking on where and when councillors hold their surgeries, and other local amenities. I can't create an application that asks people to select where they live on a map and it tell them if their Parliamentary constituency will be changing at the next general election, what it's changing to, and what difference that makes to them.

I am aware of the election-maps.co.uk website, but this is extremely hard to use - you have to know the name of your area before you can enter a postcode, you can't look up by e.g. ward name, and it only provides images of the boundaries.

Originally posted in the OPSI Discussion Forum.