Ordnance Survey maps the skies from East Midlands Airport

Great Britain’s national mapping agency, Ordnance Survey is pleased to announce that its Flying Unit will be based at East Midlands Airport with two aircraft which will fly the length and breadth of Great Britain to capture aerial photography.

Ordnance Survey will be based at the airport for the next three years and its two aircraft will be using it as a base to capture high-quality aerial imagery from the highlands of Scotland to the south coast. The mapping agency uses the aerial imagery to update the master map of the country, which records over 5,000 changes every single day.

Having relocated from Blackpool International Airport for the 2012 flying season, Ordnance Survey has used aircraft to record changes to the landscape for over fifty years. In the early days, it operated from a number of different bases across the country, but the move to East Midlands brings together all the Flying Unit resources in one place. The two aircraft, a Cessa 402 and Cessna 404, carry cameras which record change at a highly detailed level.

The Ordnance Survey aircraft could be in the sky any time from March to November capturing some 50,000 high resolution images which are used to update the mapping database of the country, update our aerial photography mapping products and capture change which is included in our most detailed mapping. They use cameras which are among the highest resolution in the country recording 196 megapixels on each image. Over the course of the 2011 flying season, the cameras captured over 51,000 useable frames including those covering all the Olympic sites and 140 other target areas.

Tony Mabey, Head of Remote Sensing at Ordnance Survey, said:

“We are delighted to be making use of the first class facilities which East Midlands Airport has to offer.

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Ordnance Survey launches neighbourhood innovation challenge

Budding innovators and entrepreneurs are being asked to contribute ideas that could improve neighbourhoods and communities across Britain, with a £115 000 prize fund available to help develop the best entries.

The GeoVation Challenge, run by mapping agency Ordnance Survey, is looking for great geography, technology and design based ideas, which will deliver solutions to a variety of problems experienced in neighbourhoods and communities across the country. The ideas with the best use of Ordnance Survey products and services will have a chance to win a slice of the £115 000 prize fund.

The latest challenge, titled ‘How can we transform neighbourhoods in Britain together’, is calling for innovators, entrepreneurs, community groups, residents and local authorities to submit ideas which could potentially improve the quality of life and enhance community spirit in their local areas. Some of the areas which the challenge is looking to tackle include:

• How do we connect people who want to work with those who need their skills?
• How do we establish a sense of community in the neighbourhoods in which we live?
• How can we discourage people and businesses from littering and fly-tipping?
• How can we help local independent businesses remain on our high streets?
• How do we ensure public services and resources are accessible for all ages?
• How can councils deliver differently with less?

Chris Parker, one of the GeoVation organisers at Ordnance Survey, adds: “It has been over a year since our last GeoVation Challenge and we are very excited about the new neighbourhood challenge and eager to see what ideas are submitted.

“This new challenge is really open to everyone. In communities across Britain we have residents who are heavily involved in local projects while others are far less active. However, the common theme is that we all experience local problems which we would like to see improved. In the current economic climate we are all being asked to do ‘more for less’ and ‘do things differently’. The new challenge allows anyone to submit an idea which could ultimately help deliver solutions in local neighbourhoods.”

To help establish some of the problems which the challenge hopes to address, the GeoVation team worked with Barking and Dagenham Council, Business in the Community, Design Council, Kent County Council, NESTA, Nonon, Social Reporter, University of the Arts and UnLtd.

Noel Hatch, Projects and Research Lead at Kent County Council, added: “There are excellent opportunities for geography to be harnessed to help us transform our neighbourhoods. Although we are asking for people to tackle local problems, the ultimate aim of the challenge must be to scale up the solutions to work across other neighbourhoods in Britain. If we can tackle a local issue in Kent, then why not implement the same solution to solve similar issues across the rest of the country.”

As part of the challenge the ideas must be developed using Ordnance Survey products and services. Budding developers can build their solutions with mapping data from          Ordnance Survey’s OS OpenData portal or by using the popular OS OpenSpace API.

Chris adds: “The exciting thing is that we really don’t know what people might come up with, but we’re certainly keen to hear any and all ideas, whether its refining an existing innovation or something brand new.

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New custom-made maps from Ordnance Survey

Avoid a ‘life on the edge’ with new custom-made maps from Ordnance Survey

Map owners no longer face a ‘life on the edge’ thanks to a new range of customisable paper maps from Ordnance Survey.

The much loved OS Explorer Map and OS Landranger Map series of maps have now been extended further with the introduction of a new customisable version.

The new OS Explorer Map – Custom Made and OS Landranger Map – Custom Made allow anyone to customise their own map, choose their own title and select an individual cover image from a wide selection photographs.

Matching the existing look and feel of the OS Explorer Map at 1:25 000 and OS Landranger Map at 1:50 000 scales, which are recognised as the definitive maps for outdoor activities, the custom-made version will be the same quality and detail which customers have come to love.

The new maps allow anyone to go online and select their own special location to centre the map on. Helping to avoid a ‘life on the edge’, the customer decides what goes in the centre of the map. It could be any location that is important – someone's home, their town or favourite walk. The maps are specially printed to order, including the customers' own personal title, like ‘Our Family Holiday’, for example, as well as a wide choice of selected cover photographs.

A new production process means that Ordnance Survey custom-made maps are now printed on the same paper as standard ‘off-the-shelf’ Ordnance Survey maps. This makes them thinner, tougher, easier to fold and a practical option for outdoor enthusiasts as well as a fantastic gift for the person who has everything.

Ordnance Survey’s Director General and Chief Executive Vanessa Lawrence CB comments: “Maps are a fantastic tool that can help you discover the world around you. However, you can sometimes face the problem of having a favourite walk or cycle path that runs over more than one map sheet. Our custom-made mapping service solves that problem by allowing you to centre the map wherever you like.

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The 2000th public sector organisation joins PSMA

Ordnance Survey announces the 2000^th public sector organisation to sign up for geographic data sharing

09th February 2012 - Ordnance Survey today celebrates an important milestone as the 2000^th member joins the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA) just nine months after it was launched.

Tatenhill Parish Council in East Staffordshire is the latest public sector organisation to sign up for the agreement, which is delivering improved planning and delivery of services through the use of digital geographic data.

The ground breaking 10 year agreement between government and Ordnance Survey came into effect in April 2011 and allows the majority of public sector bodies in England and Wales, regardless of size, to use centrally funded geographic datasets. It is also helping the public sector to make vital efficiencies and improvements to service deliveries such as planning, transportation management, social housing and education services.    

Organisations already benefiting from the PSMA include the Environment Agency^®, Department for Transport, local authorities across England and Wales, health organisations and the 12 main ambulance trusts. There has also been a significant uptake to the PSMA from town and parish councils. In England, the introduction of statutory Neighbourhood Planning means that local councils can now draw up development plans to shape their area, based on geographic information which is provided by the PSMA, facilitating easier data access and data sharing between public sector bodies and local people.

The PSMA widens access to a range of highly detailed digital Ordnance Survey mapping products as well as addressing information. It replaces previous collective agreements and is already showing significant value savings. Since the agreement was launched 10 months ago, approximately £15 million in savings to public sector organisations have been identified to users through the use of the PSMA data. Based on these savings there is the potential to achieve major savings across the entire public sector through the use of data, increased sharing and implementation of best practice examples.

Cardiff Council, for example, delivered important savings of more than £1.3 million from enhanced special educational needs route and vehicle management. Meanwhile, South Yorkshire Police is expected to make savings of over £1 million as a result of an innovative Intranet-based mapping solution, which gives police officers access to detailed, up-to-date information about communities, crime and antisocial behaviour.

James Brayshaw, Ordnance Survey’s Customer Director, says:

“We are delighted to have reached the 2000^th member for the Public Sector Mapping Agreement and welcome Tatenhill Parish Council. What makes the PSMA unique is its ability to enable collaborative working underpinned by data sharing between organisations in the public sector and the ease with which the information can be visualised and analysed in a precise way. This is a centrally funded agreement, which is delivering results through increased use of location data enabling vital improvements to public sector services. We continue to encourage public sector organisations that haven’t taken advantage of membership to sign up today and start reaping the benefits.”

Emma Coleman, Clerk at Tatenhill Parish Council, the 2000^th member to join the agreement, says:

“We believe the PSMA will make a significant contribution to understanding the rural asset locations, highways and historic buildings. The ability to share geographic information with our community will help to improve decision making for planning applications and become a visual tool to share local information more effectively.”

Examples of how geographic information is making a big difference in service planning and delivery include:

• In Bristol, the local authority and Primary Care Trust are working together to improve local drug and alcohol treatment services, by mapping the location of support centres in relation to where the people who use the services live, enabling them to better meet needs locally. http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/docs/case-studies/avon-imt-consortium-improving-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-provision-in-bristol.pdf
• Harrow Council revolutionised the way it collected rubbish by analysing and cutting inefficiencies in collection routes using Ordnance Survey’s OS MasterMap^® products. The result is £3.2 million in waste collection savings over ten years, which is now being rolled out across the wider relevant public sector bodies as a best practice example in efficiency savings and geographic data use.http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/docs/case-studies/harrow-waste-collector-project.pdf

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South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue demands (and gets) the best from Ordnance Survey

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue (SYFR) has become the first public sector customer of a ground-breaking new ‘on-demand’ service from Ordnance Survey. The OS OnDemand Web Map Tile Service (WMTS-like) will enable SYFR to utilise a single web based view of their geographic location data across a range of systems and platforms from fire incident data to the location of fire hydrants to improve the accessibility of its operational information.

The availability of current and accurate geographic information such as the location of fire hydrants and site specific risk information is of fundamental importance to fire and rescue services so that they can plan and respond to incidents.

By linking the OS OnDemand WMTS-like service to back office and web based applications, SYFR will have a single, easy to access view of their own location data plotted on Ordnance Survey maps, and available for staff to view over the intranet.

SYFR also intend to develop the tool to plot actual incidents against other datasets such as community safety activity to inform future prevention work.

With all local authorities and emergency services required to make efficiency savings, reducing the costs of maintaining up-to-date and consistent data across a range of users has become an increasingly important issue. Like many other Fire and Rescue service, SYFR has acquired a range of mapping data and GIS software.  All these systems require additional effort to be maintained and kept consistent to be effective.

By using the ‘hosted’ OS OnDemand WMTS-like service, SYFR are able to utilise a large number of the Ordnance Survey products made available under our Public Service Mapping Agreement to a greater level without having to worry about the overhead of storing and keeping mapping data up-to-date and consistent across the organisation.

SYFR have already linked the OS OnDemand WMTS-like service to their Incident Recording System (IRS) and have used it to allow station personnel to query and correct the location of non-addressable incidents.

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