Main menu

Unlocking the Power of Location - UK Geospatial Strategy

Lines image


1Spatial welcomes the publication of the UK’s Geospatial Strategy, 2020 to 2025. The strategy sets the UK’s Geospatial Strategy and coordinating public sector geospatial activity. The aim of the strategy is to unlock the significant economic, social and environmental opportunities offered by location data and boost the UK’s global geospatial expertise.

The Geospatial Strategy quickly followed the recent announcement about the new Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA) with Ordnance Survey for the next 10 years. We talked about the new PSGA last month.

1Spatial is delighted to see that the UK strategy will become reality, with continued commitment from the government to enable the delivery of the activities set out in the strategy. The Geospatial Commission will prioritise their investments in areas where there is evidence of greatest opportunity, for example, revitalising our infrastructure, building new homes and leading the world in agriculture and land management. Their efforts will focus around four missions:

  • Mission 1: Promote and safeguard the use of location data.
  • Mission 2: Improve access to better location data.
  • Mission 3: Enhance capabilities, skills and awareness.
  • Mission 4: Enable innovation.

1Spatial looks forward to working with the Commission to achieve these missions over the coming years. The strategy will enable the continued evolution of geospatial data infrastructures, making geospatial data easier not harder to work with. Consequently, this will evolve organisation, regional and national geospatial readiness, enable evidence-based decision making, to meet economic, environmental and society needs during the next 5 years.

In January we talked about a “new decade and new emerging approaches to evolving geospatial data infrastructures across government”. Many of the emerging approaches that we talked about align to the UK’s Geospatial Strategy, for example, ensuring quality and “FAIR” (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable) data.

1Spatial collaborates with public sector, transport and utilities organisations, supporting them to evolve their geospatial readiness and unlocking the power of location. Recent collaborations aimed at unlocking geospatial/location data, include, Greater London Authority London Underground Asset Register pilot, Northumbrian Water, Rural Payments Agency, Ordnance Survey Great Britain and Environment Agency.

Whilst the UK Geospatial Strategy underpins the unlocking of location data, to deliver successful outcomes and realise economic, environmental and social benefits from the prioritised opportunities set out in the strategy, the UK’s Geospatial Strategy needs to be linked to and/or embedded within other national, regional and organisational strategies, for example the anticipated National Data Strategy.

Get in touch, if you would like to discuss this further with our team.

UK Geospatial Strategy, 2020 - 2025

Author, Matthew White, Senior Business Development Manager