OS Reaches INSPIRE Milestone

Metadata about Ordnance Survey’s products have been made available through data.gov.uk, alongside INSPIRE-compliant view services through the OS OnDemand web map service.

The INSPIRE Directive establishes a framework for easier sharing of geographic information among European public bodies and improved accessibility to the public. One of the first steps for organisations producing data which falls under INSPIRE was the creation of metadata. Ordnance Survey’s metadata is now available for other public bodies and the public to access on their website and on data.gov.uk

Customers of the OS OnDemand web map service will also be able to view INSPIRE-related products as a raster image via an INSPIRE-compliant view service. The service, which delivers Ordnance Survey’s most up-to-date mapping over the web to an organisation in seconds, has recently upgraded to ensure compliance and added more raster images of products. These include Strategi, Meridian 2, OS VectorMap Local, Land-Form PROFILE and OS MasterMap Integrated Transport Network Layer. A further update later in the year will see OS VectorMap District and the National Address Gazetteer added to OS OnDemand.

Peter ter Haar, Ordnance Survey’s Director of Products said, “Being able to view INSPIRE-related products through OS OnDemand will also be of benefit to many of our current customers. It could reduce their need to build their own internal web map services to view the Ordnance Survey products available to them through the Public Sector Mapping Agreement and One Scotland Mapping Agreement.”

Ordnance Survey used the UK Location Metadata Editor to create, edit and validate its metadata. Ordnance Survey created the Metadata Editor for the UK Location Programme, as one of their technical delivery partners. The Metadata Editor was built using the GeoNetwork platform, and made available in two formats: a web-based online version and a downloadable version.