Ordnace Survey Releases OpenSpace

Ordnance Survey (United Kingdom) has made its Web 2.0 platform, OS OpenSpace, available to developers everywhere following a successful closed launch in December 2007.

OS OpenSpace is a free service that allows users to build mash-ups of Ordnance Survey mapping in scales ranging from the whole of Great Britain down to street level. The OS OpenSpace API (Application Programming Interface) has been undergoing testing by a dedicated set of developers since a ‘closed alpha' launch on 14th December. Since then 12 developers have put data from OS OpenSpace on the Internet.

The service is now available to anyone wanting to develop experimental applications on the web using Ordnance Survey mapping.

The Minister responsible for Ordnance Survey, Iain Wright MP, says: "In launching OS OpenSpace, Ordnance Survey is taking a lead in providing greater access to public information. The launch will allow others to innovate using geographic information, with confidence in the national consistency and currency of the data they use."

From today, anyone who registers at the OS OpenSpace website can access up to 30,000 ‘tiles' or extracts of data and up to 1,000 place‑name look-ups a day. Users can add markers, lines and polygons on top of Ordnance Survey mapping, search for place names with a gazetteer and display other location data from elsewhere on the Web.

The platform is a JavaScript API that uses ‘slippy map' technology, so users can grab and move images in different directions. As well as the API itself, OS OpenSpace will include a community website so developers can discuss, review and collaborate on projects.

To register as an OS OpenSpace user and start experimenting with Ordnance Survey mapping data, visit the URL below.