1. Place Matters: The Location Strategy for the United Kingdom
Phil Watts, Ordnance Survey of Great Britain
GISCO Joint Working Party of NSOs and NMAs
13 March 2009

2. Steps towards achieving The Location Strategy for the United Kingdom
May 2005 – August – Development of UK GI Strategy
August 2007 – renamed: “Place Matters: The Location Strategy for the United Kingdom”
October Strategy submitted to Ministers
November 2008
Strategy Published
Location Council formed
UK GI Panel disbanded

3. Steps to publication
Since the last Joint Working Party presentation …
Secure funding for cross-cutting core deliverables 
Gain wider Ministerial Agreement 
Publish Strategy 
Establish UK Location Council (Chaired by DEFRA) 
Refine and deploy implementation plan 
INSPIRE
Digital National Framework
And now …begin to exploit the Locational dimension in UK public sector information.

4. Drivers for the UK Location Strategy
Towards a UK SDI

5. To assist in aligning the GI vision – Local to European
INSPIRE
Member State
sharing
sharing
Regional
UK Regional GI Strategies
Local
the digital national framework
UK Location Strategy
ALIGNING
<<< Local and National Organisations >>>

6. Strategy & Policy:
“Twenty First Century Government is enabled by technology – policy is inspired by it, business change is delivered by it, customer and corporate services are dependent on it, and democratic engagement is exploring it.
Moreover modern governments with serious transformational intent see technology as a strategic asset and not just a tactical tool.
Technology alone does not transform government, but government cannot transform to meet modern citizens’ expectations without it.”
UK Transformational Government Agenda

7. The United Kingdom – some facts
England
Land area 130,000km2
Population 50.7m
~390 people km2
Northern Ireland
Land area 13,000km2
Population 1.7m
~130 people km2
Devolved Administration
Scotland
Land area 78,000km2
Population 5.1m
~ 65 people km2
Devolved Administration
Wales
Land area 20,000km2
Population 2.9m
~145 people km2
UK Land area ,000Km2
UK Population 60.5m
~250 people per km2

8. “… everything happens somewhere …”
Neighbourhood statistics & Social exclusion
Traffic management
Environmental Management

9. Barriers to effective use
Lack of technical interoperability
Lack of business interoperability
Duplication of datasets
Lack of awareness (of existing data)
Silo world

10. ‘Place’ within the heart of decision making
Location Strategy
Stimulating increased efficiency & social engagement by promoting the use of ‘place’ in Government
Supporting evidence based policies through sharing stakeholders’ place-based data
Understanding where needs are required and configuring services
Empowering the citizen through location based services
Supporting economic development by understanding the UK economic landscape through geography
Shared GI Services
‘Place’ within the heart of decision making
Protecting and sustaining the UK environment through geographic knowledge
Managing the marine / land interface
GI Infrastructure
Planning regeneration
Supporting Homeland Security and effective disaster planning and recovery
Understanding the impact and monitoring the reaction to climate change
Supporting the Sustainable Development Agenda, incl. transport
Identifying locations for inward investment

11. Five strategic goals aligned with the transformation of public services:
To ensure that the UK exploits the full value of its information the Location Strategy requires a programme of strategic actions which ensure that:
we know what data we have, and avoid duplicating it;
we use common reference data so we know we are talking about the same places;
we can share location-related information easily through a common infrastructure of standards, technology and business relationships;
we have the appropriate skills, both among geographic professionals and among other professional groups who use location information or support its use;
we have strong leadership and governance to drive through change including the implementation of this Strategy and the implementation of INSPIRE.

12. UKLS and INSPIRE – Components of a UK SDI
Mainstream Information Services
Digital National Framework
INSPIRE
UK Location Strategy

13. Giants Causeway, Northern Ireland Tyndrum, Scotland
28 November 2008
UK Location Council
Snowdonia, Wales
London, England

14. CC:The Exchange July 2009
Part of the prestigious Cambridge Conference series, for Heads and Directors of the world’s National Mapping and Cadastral Organisations
The Conference and Exhibition will be hosted at Ordnance Survey’s Headquarters Southampton
Accommodation and social events in the historic ancient capital of England, Winchester
Registration opening soon!