The Ordnance Survey & Becta Schools 'Map Pilot'

The Ordnance Survey & Becta Schools 'Map Pilot'

"The Ordnance Survey (OS) and Becta have been running a `map pilot' aimed at exploring ways of making digital maps accessible to schools."

source an thanks to: Wendy North Primary Project Leader http://primarygeogblog.blogspot.com/

View Upload your own

`The MapPilot enables a range of Ordnance Survey digital mapping to be accessed free by pilot schools and educational mapping suppliers for a trial period. MapPilot is run by Becta, in conjunction with The Advisory Unit: Computers in Education and eMapSite with funding from DfES and support from Ordnance Survey.'
*via a simple GIS such as Local Studies

The other mapping source they have used is the excellent Geograph

This a very good way to introduce school childern to Maps and Technology. They are the potentional future Carographers and GIS engineers of tomorrow.

The project highlights 'software issues' so any budding software engineers out there that could develop 'A deskstop or web-based GIS' for school childern would be on a winner.
Openlayers & QGIS Hybrid has potential with development.

Mapperz

BBC Jam Cams using Ordnance Survey Maps

BBC Website using Ordnance Survey Maps

"View our Jam Cams by using our new interactive map"

The map is dynamic (generated in flash) and shows clusters, the larger the circle the more cameras are available to view.

Quick Video showing the Ordnance Survey 1.1million (Miniscale) 1:250,000 & 1:50,000 Colour Rasters in thier flash application.


Now you would think nothing of this, until you realise the cost for this.
A Corporate Licence. It must be very expensive to do this.


[Now in the UK every household that has a TV tuner requires a TV Licence, now that can be seen as a 'tax'. This tax then is used to fund the BBC and all it's programme making and anything to do with the BBC. Including the very successful iPlayer.]

It's nice to see this data finally and freely accessible on a very large UK website other than the Ordnance Survey's own site.

Though if you are looking for Free Access to Ordnance Survey data and the use of these products mentioned you can provided you have no adverts on your site or making money via the access of the data. OpenSpace API is the route for you.

Ordnance Survey - OpenSpace API ( now with Demo)

19/12/2007
update: Found a Demo Page with using OpenSpace API


Image is for illustration only.

On closer inspection there is a lot of content which has been removed at the larger scales.
Live Demo
http://www.maptasm.com/


Ordnance Survey - OpenSpace API (Alpha)



"Got a great idea? Make it work with the best mapping in the world."
(well Great Britain anyways)

"OS OpenSpace is a free Ordnance Survey service that allows you to embed Ordnance Survey maps covering England, Scotland and Wales in your web applications using our Javascript® application programming interface (API)."

Some Functionality :

The OS OpenSpace API and all the data provided is in British National Grid (ESPG 27700).
The API also provides the ability to covert between National Grid and latitude and longitude (ESPG 4326) and vice versa.


OS OpenSpace allows your API key to access up to 30 000 tiles of data and up to 1 000 place name look-ups per day for free

Can you add Ads to the API?
No, please see the OS OpenSpace Developer Agreement (there can be no form of financial gain).
FaceBook, MySpace apps?
No, The application you build cannot result in any financial gain to you (the developer of the application), the user or any other party; please see the OS OpenSpace Developer Agreement .


Note: Any Content you create using the Open Space API - Will not be yours, as it is 'dervived' from Ordance Survey Products.

the ownership and licensing of the copyright and other intellectual property rights in:

* any data supplied to you by us; and
* any data created by you.

Primarily, you cannot use any data you create for any commercial purpose.

No 1:25,000 (Explorer range) or 1:10,000 Rasters


More Information:
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/dec/13/freeourdata.software

Ed Parson's (Ex CTO Ordnance Survey) briefly mentions it too
http://www.edparsons.com/


OS OpenSpace is currently running as a closed alpha test service.

OS OpenSpace Developer Agreement is 16 Pages long.

http://openspace.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/openspace/index.html

It's a good step forward, but very restrictive in use.
Hopefully can be developed for Educational and Charity Institutions

At least Microsoft haven't bought them yet.

Stefan Geens writes an excellent roundup of the implications of this API. Removing ads from his site could only run the OpenSpace API on the Ogle Earth site for 12 hours a day due to the amount of traffic it generates.
http://www.ogleearth.com/2007/12/ordnance_survey.html
(But I think he will stick to his current formula with ads.)

MultiMap Open API + Ordnance Survey Data

MultiMap Open API + Ordnance Survey Data

Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Data is now accessible to API developers

is it true?

You can Zoom in and Pan.

A bigger version is available here
http://mapperz.googlepages.com/Multimap_Sample_OS50k_bigger.html

"At Multimap we’re [they are] very proud of the wide range of local and global mapping data available on our website and through our API, and are committed to providing as much of this data via the Open API as we [they] can. To that end, we’re very pleased to announce the availability of Ordnance Survey Landranger maps (at 1:50000 scale across zoom levels 13, 14 and 15) through the Open API.

The Landranger data covers England, Scotland and Wales and provides a wealth of topographic features, such as contour lines, tourist attractions and historic features such as Roman roads. These maps are great for walkers, cyclists, or for providing detailed maps of rural areas. We can’t wait to see how people make use of them through the Open API."


http://blog.multimap.com/


A good but probably expensive (regards to licensing) move by Multimap.

Mapperz

Ordnance Survey Explore (Beta)

Ordnance Survey Explore



Ordnance Survey have launched 'OS Explore', a website designed for walkers, runners, hikers, cyclists, anyone with the interest with the great outdoors and sharing their routes and personal favourite places.



Though there is room for improvement:

• No Help or FAQ - to get non map people to 'get started'

• No Editing of your own routes (that's a bit silly)

• No 1:25,000 (Explorer) Mapping is all 1:50,000 (Landranger) (OS have copyright on their own data surely?)

• No Polygon creation (Area) - only Lines and POI Points.

• No Export so cannot use the route in a GPS
  

Well it's a start from the Ordnance Survey - but clearly in Beta.

Needs to be more 'MyMaps' in functionality

Add your comments on the service - maybe they take note, maybe not.


*Routes are British National Grid not WGS84

Ed Parsons (ex Ordnance Survey) also mentions it in his blog

Official Reply on the editing of routes
"Unfortunately, at the current time, users are unable to edit routes once they have been saved. However, before saving, users are able to undo waypoints they have plotted and remove their points of interest. There are several usability changes envisaged for the next release and this is an area we would like to see improved. The site is still in its beta stage so obviously we are keen to hear about any issues encountered."

SatMap - A Sports GPS

SatMap - A Sports GPS called the 'active10'



Source: © Satmap Systems Ltd

Specifically built for the UK Market. So it's waterproof!

Contains Ordnance Survey Mapping (on SD Card)

Easy to use
No computer is needed, just insert a map (SD Card) and go.

Real maps select from the wide range of titles
containing high quality maps supported by Ordnance Survey.
1:50,000 and 1:25,000 Mapping

Clear navigation
The intelligence of the active10 makes finding your way simple.

Source: © Satmap Systems Ltd

Internet links
A simple USB cable is all you need to connect to the Internet to download maps or share your favourite routes.

18 different titles, each one giving you all the 1:25,000 EXPLORER and 1:50,000 LANDRANGER maps on the trail making sure you stay on track.

UK Regions
10 different titles, each showing over 20,000 km2 of the country on a 1:50,000
LANDRANGER map giving you the freedom to roam throughout your region.

UK Counties
67 different titles, each on a 1:50,000 LANDRANGER map, allowing you to
focus on your favourite county.

Electronic compass
An internal electronic compass that works just like a standard hand-held compass.

Trip statistics
Automatically records route data so you always know how you are doing.

Price £300

Looks good and sounds great but a few questions

Does is export to KML?
Battery life?
Can you add your own mapping?
If you don't need PC how do you connect to the internet to share maps? (Built in Wifi?)

Technical Specs (PDF)
http://www.satmap.com/eshot/Satmap_product.pdf

http://www.satmap.com/eshot/Satmap_Tech_Spec.pdf

Ordnance Survey New Product - Sitemap™

Ordnance Survey Releases A New Product - Sitemap™


Image Source: Ordnance Survey

"OS Sitemap provides customers with extracts of Ordnance Survey mapping in a number of different formats and to different scales. It is has been developed to suit the requirements of a broad range of customers - from private individuals requiring a paper map to large design and engineering organisations wanting map data to be used within a computer system."

OS Sitemap provides a detailed and seamless view of topography of Great Britain:
Three scales

• 1:1250 (Derived from OS Master Map)

• 1:2500 (Derived from OS Master Map)

• 1:10 000

Available in Paper (Colour or Black and White)
Raster Images (LZW compressed Tiff or PDF format)
Vector (DXF but not NTF or GML)

But is it cheap?
No, cheaper than OS Master Map but for Personal use and even small businesses it is expensive. Use Open Street Map (free) as an alternative instead.

Prices, the PDF just points to Sitemap at the end available at Ordnance Survey Mapping and Data Centres, it depends on a number of factors

Raster or Vector formats
Colour or Black and White
Size of Area needed
and complex pricing structuring dependant on your use, commercial vector on a website will lead to many ££££.

To find your nearest stockist

60 Layers of Features however here are some that are Not included are

Roads under 100 metres (Private Land)
Rights of Way
Detail under bridges (so captured from aerial photography and not surveyed?)
Detail under elevated roads
Buildings below a minimum size (resolution of image not high enough to capture it?)
Land parcel areas and House Numbers

Good for Ordnance Survey to create new digital products, however they need to make purchasing and costs more accessible to the public.
If they reduce prices they would gain more customers and not scare many off with complex pricing, are all 47% of Ordnance Survey is paid by the tax payer.
so do UK tax payers with get a 47% discount with that?

mapperz
likes OS products and uses them most days in a commercial sense, though OS need to make it easier and cheaper for Joe Public to use it for personal use.

Crown Copyright crushing UK Mapping Innovations

This is a post to make people aware that government agencies are stifling UK innovations.

"Public money paid for it - but the public can’t view because of crown copyright"

Says the Guardians Free Our Data Campaign

"Imagine flying at rooftop height up the Thames. You dive under Tower Bridge, then twist between the Gherkin and Tower 42 skyscrapers. As the London Eye looms, you bank right and dive into a translucent globe which transports you into the middle of St Paul's cathedral."


But you can't put it online!

"Although Virtual London was funded by another state body, the computer model cannot be posted on the web without infringing Ordnance Survey's copyright."

"Public money funds it, yet "public" copyright keeps it shut away."

But how can Geographically data be locked down to some ceramic hard drive and not accessible to the people who paid for it?

Nicely timed just ahead of Christmas, the Department for Constitutional Affairs has put its Statute Law Database online. You can search for any extant law, and various others - including how upcoming legislation will affect existing laws.
This was protected under crown copyright so why can this be released to the public free of charge and available online?

Come on Ordnance Survey sort your out of date crown copyright.
Reduce your prices to commercial vender's and you will gain more consumers and increase your incomes 10 fold.

Sources:
http://freeourdata.org.uk/blog/
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1981821,00.html
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/aboutus/
yourinforights/copyright/index.html

Even little company Google are having issues with Ordnance Survey -

"The sticking point is understood to be Google's attempt to negotiate a fixed fee for the data, rather than accepting Ordnance Survey's practice of charging by the number of transactions. Ordnance Survey would not comment on the specific case, but said that a fixed fee would "wreck the level playing field for other partners" - and it should be noted that it is obliged to treat all customers (including itself) on the same terms. OS said it is happy for its data to be used in a "Google-type" environment. "Sites such as Multimap and Streetmap use our data and their services are freely available to the public over the web.""