New map will help insurers with large range of mapping and geograhic information
Ordnance Survey has launched OS OpenData, an online portal that will provide insurance companies with free and unrestricted access to a large range of mapping and geographic information (GI).
OS OpenData allows insurers to download a wide range of mapping and geographic information for free reuse direct to their computers; view maps and boundary information for the whole country; and develop web-map applications using Ordnance Survey’s OS OpenSpace API (Application Programming Interface).
The launch follows the announcement by the Prime Minister on 17 November that some Ordnance Survey mapping would be made freely available as part of the ‘Making Public Data Public’ initiative.
The project, championed by web-inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Nigel Shadbolt, the Professor of Artificial Intelligence and deputy head (Research) of the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, aims to support greater transparency and accountability within Government, improve public services and create new economic and social value.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee comments: "I'm delighted that the Ordnance Survey is releasing this data for free re-use. It will help people make fuller use of other government data on data.gov.uk, as well as stimulating innovation in mapping itself."
Professor Shadbolt adds: "OS OpenData makes critical geographic information freely available to all of us. Our goal has been to facilitate innovation and reuse, to allow everyone the opportunity to enrich this valuable public data.
OS OpenData, which is being funded by government, is made up of a range of raster and vector mapping datasets.
These include the detailed 1:10 000 scale OS Street View, Boundary-Line, which provides the electoral and administrative geography of the country, and Meridian 2 and Strategi which offer customisable views of Britain’s topography.
The following datasets are included in OS OpenData:
• OS Street View
• 1: 50 000 Gazetteer
• 1: 250 000 Colour Raster
• OS Locator
• Boundary-Line
• Code-Point Open
• Meridian 2
• Strategi
• MiniScale
• Land-Form PANORAMA
• OS VectorMap District (available May 2010)
OS Streetview is currently used by insurance companies for background mapping over which other data, such as Flood extents or their own information, can be overlayed.
This allows insurers to view the lie of the land right down to individual buildings. Code Point Open also allows analysis by postcode areas.
These are very useful for risk assessment and risk accumulation to ascertain where there are clusters of risk and where there might be 100% total loss.
Sarah Adams, insurance and banking sector manager at Ordnance Survey says: “Geographical data is an essential tool for insurance providers and this free data will enable them to look at a property being insured in context, by showing clear street-level detail, including building outlines, woodland and water on a static map backdrop, whether it is on a main road or an industrial estate, all of which are useful in assessing risk, exposure management and setting premiums.
"Insurers can access full information on the location of buildings, surrounding infrastructure and undertake geographical hotspot/pattern analysis."
The release of free data comes after a public consultation document, released on 23 December 2009, set out various long-term strategic options for Ordnance Survey. The consultation period closed on 17 March, and on 31 March, the Department for Communities and Local Government published the Government’s official response. The launch of OS OpenData marks the culmination of this process, delivering greater access to geographic information in Britain than ever before.
