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Ordnance Survey Releases Mapping Tools

Posted by samzenpus on from the map-it dept.

rHBa writes The BBC reports that the UK mapping organization Ordnance Survey has added 4 new products to its open data portfolio: OS Local, Names, Rivers and Roads. Perhaps the most interesting of the free data sets is OS Local which provides a base map to identify "hotspots" such as property pricing, insurance risk, and crime. The OS are not creating a new Google Maps-style service of their own but rather are providing their data for use by other third-party apps and online tools. They expect developers and designers to use the data to enhance their own products and improve the information people can access via the web.

18 comments

  1. What do you mean not providing a service? by garyisabusyguy · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here is the web browser based mapping service:
    http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.u...

    I mean, sure you can order the data sets to use in your own application also, but claiming that they do not provide a mapping viewer of their own kinda misses the mark

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    1. Re:What do you mean not providing a service? by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

      Zooming into London, I passed five totally different map styles.

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    2. Re:What do you mean not providing a service? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      I zoomed in at random and ended up at Pink Eye Bridge. Eww.

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    3. Re:What do you mean not providing a service? by rHBa · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "The OS are not creating a new Google Maps-style service of their own" was taken from the BBC article.

      I figured I'd already broken the first rule of Slashdot by RTFA so I might as well break rule 1 of journalism by not verifying the source.

      I suspect what they meant was that the OS is not trying to replace Google Maps. Also, if you were going to provide a (large) dataset for people to use don't you think it would be a good idea to give them a convenient way to browse it before downloading?

  2. 1984 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    1984 was a warning not an instruction manual.

    1. Re:1984 by mwvdlee · · Score: 2

      "The boy who cried wolf" was also a warning, not an instruction manual.

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  3. Product Placement Taco Bell by Virtucon · · Score: 1

    "Taco Bell, Taco Bell, product placement Taco Bell, Echirito, Macho Burrito" - Master Tang "Kung Pow"

    Why is it that we keep getting more product placement "articles" on Slashdot?

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    1. Re:Product Placement Taco Bell by Xest · · Score: 2

      So Slashdot shouldn't post anything about new product or data releases ever because it's product placement?

      It's not like Slashdot is shilling for some ultra-rich company in this case that's just trying to make a quick buck off the user base here. Ordnance Survey is the UK government's official mapping agency - it's a government department, not a private company.

      More governmental data being release to the public is a good thing, as it's a continued expansion of transparency and freedom to access data that the tax payer pays to produce in the first place. Open access to data is a big deal in the tech world right now, and it's exactly the sort of thing a tech site like Slashdot should cover as a result - this isn't a story about the latest iWhatever.

    2. Re:Product Placement Taco Bell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's currently both:

      http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/about/news/2015/os-set-to-become-government-owned-company.html

      Next step full privatisation, which worked so well last time:

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30527392

  4. AH! Finally! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google coverage of my area won't be older than google maps itself!

    Finally, I can see past my own childhood!

    W-what do you mean they never updated it... again? Oh. Okay.

    1. Re:AH! Finally! by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Informative

      Google coverage of my area won't be older than google maps itself!

      Finally, I can see past my own childhood!

      W-what do you mean they never updated it... again? Oh. Okay.

      There is a disagreement between OS and Google on what Google's licensing terms mean. Currently this has prevented the use of OS map layers on google (though they are used on Streetmap and bing. So I think it unlikely that google maps will use this soon.

      I have no idea who is right about the interpretation of the terms of service, but it is preventing google's use of open sources OD maps

  5. How is 1984 relevant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I know this is a Slashdot meme (all your 1984 references belong to our soviet russioan overlords ??? profit) but...

    What on earth is AC trying to say here?

    A privatised mapping agency is offering new services based on public domain data - and that's Orwellian somehow

  6. ordinance? by supersteve1440 · · Score: 1

    You mean ordinance?
    https://www.google.com/search?...
    https://www.google.com/search?...

    1. Re:ordinance? by rHBa · · Score: 1

      No

    2. Re:ordinance? by rHBa · · Score: 1
      WIYF:

      The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying): mapping Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rebellion in 1745. There was also a more general and nationwide need in light of the potential threat of invasion during the Napoleonic Wars, reflected in the inclusion of the War Department's broad arrow in the agency's logo.