OS to scrap Mapping Services Agreement??

Tuesday, 2 June, 2009

Ed Parsons, quick of the mark as ever, posted a blog entry on the recently announced UK Map. The GeoInformation Group have, for some time, been rumoured to have been collecting small scale mapping data allowing them to compete directly with the Ordnance Survey. They were early in to digital imagery, LiDAR and thermal imaging, and small scale mapping is a natural extension to this. Of course, unlike the OS, they don’t have to (or want to!) map the entire country, but rather just those areas that will generate enough income. So expect places like London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow etc etc to all be covered in the 24,000 km2 dataset being collected over the next 5 years, with London due for release in September.

Top of the list of benefits for companies will, I suspect, be pricing and licensing (with a particular focus upon derived data). I wouldn’t be surprised if we see large swathes of local government opting out of licensing OS data and, if we wanted to be sensationalist (hence the blog title!!) it could even be the beginning of the end for the Mapping Services Agreement (licensing OS data to local government). Will the OS be forced to change up (I’ve been watching too much of The Wire)?? I bet GeoInformation were pleased that there was ostensibly no change to licensing following the budget, but economics may well come in to play. Game on!

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