Dr Robert Barr United Kingdom University of Manchester and Association for Geographic Information

The United Kingdom? In the UK many GI data Policies are determined at ‘National’ levels within the UK: – Northern Ireland – Scotland – Wales – England – or Great Britain (UK – Northern Ireland)

Fragmented GI leadership Mapping agencies: – Ordnance Survey Great Britain (OSGB) – Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland (OSNI) Ministries – Department of Transport Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) – Northern Ireland, Scottish and Welsh Offices – Office for National Statistics

Fragmented GI leadership Regulators – Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO) – POSTCOM (the Postal Regulator) – NIMSA Review committee National Interest in Mapping Service Agreement – IDe&A Improvement and Development Agency for local government

Fragmented GI leadership Regulators – Office of the e-envoy – Cabinet Office – DTLR Advisers – Director General Ordnance Survey Lobby and pressure Groups – Association for Geographic Information

Fragmented GI leadership Suppliers – Ordnance Survey(s) OSGB and OSNI – Consignia (Post Office) – Specialist agencies e.g. Environment Agency, British Geological Survey, Hydrographic Office – Private sector e.g. Aerial photography / remote sensing / general mapping / in-car navigational / location based services

New policies affecting UK Click-use-pay – HMSO regulating new policies for public sector information E-government – E-envoy working across government Regional Assemblies – New information level Privacy and data sharing – Performance and Innovation Unit

New policies affecting UK Electronic conveyancing – Property transactions National Land Information Service (NLIS) National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) National ID register – ID cards or – Local Authorities Secure Electoral Register (LASER)

New policies affecting UK Pan-government Service Level Agreement – Ordnance Survey mapping for all central government departments Land registration – HMLR index map – towards a national cadastre Identifiers – UPRN – NLPG – TOID MasterMap

UPRNs Manor House Church Street Council Tax/ Rates Gas, Water & Electricity Supply Rights of passage Ownership/ Leases/licences Housing Benefit Electoral Roll Planning/use Emergency Services Social Services Refuse Collection NLPG

Topographic Identifiers (TOIDs)

UK legal issues The lack of an adequate legal framework is becoming clear e.g. – Legal challenge to distribution of Electoral Register upheld – OSGB involved in major copyright and competition cases – European Data Protection legislation vague over when ‘geographical’ information becomes ‘personal’

Problems and possible solutions PROBLEM Fragmented leadership Lack of legal framework Cost recovery Privacy at threat SOLUTION Geographic Commission NSDI act to define the definitive Finance basic infrastructure from registration fees Explicitly add geographic dimension to Data Protection Laws

Conclusions The UK cost recovery approach has generated a rich diversity of GI data sets It has also led to many serious inconsistencies and has failed to maximise the use of GI, particularly in government The UK needs a clear policy for separating a minimum definitive NSDI, financed from taxes or fees and placed in the public domain; and a regulated competitive market