The way the Ordnance Survey operates has altered dramatically, writes Andy Gosney

In the closing half of 2010, Ordnance Survey underwent large changes in the way it operates. These changes include the creation and implementation of the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA). Replicating the agreement already in place in Scotland, the PSMA covers the provision of all location data to the public sector in England and Wales. 

One of the main changes concerns Ordnance Survey’s data licensing model. This is the set of legal rules and apparatus deployed by Ordnance Survey to guide customers in how they can (or most importantly cannot) reuse, recreate or replicate Ordnance Survey data and derived information. The Ordnance Survey made these changes in response to criticism that the existing rules were too strict; there were too many of them and they were too difficult to understand.

Thanks to the PSMA, we now have a set of fewer, broader, and more compact licences. The rules are clearer and it is easier for the end user to understand what data use they are entitled to.

The complex and hotly disputed issue of derived data has also been addressed. Though not going as far as some would have liked, Ordnance Survey have tried to couple the free and easy use of derived data alongside their OpenData™ initiative. The main rule of thumb is (careful, there are exceptions) that if you did not pay for the data in the first place, it is more than likely free to re-use as long as you credit Ordnance Survey with its initial creation. 

The family silver, in the form of OS MasterMap® and  its accompanying layers (address, transport, imagery and so on), has been protected and any commercial re-use of this data  will still require an appropriate licence and payment. Extensive guidance is available online here.

This does not solve all problems and most free data advocates will protest that the most useful and detailed data (OS MasterMap®) is still prohibitively expensive for use at anything but a corporate level. But this is a start and we expect a Phase 2 update in early 2011.

The pricing still reflects an Ordnance Survey trying to balance conflicting forces and the pricing structure seems designed to maintain the broad status quo. I would like to see certain pricing reforms to help grow the use of data, especially in the SME sector where pricing is critical. It will be interesting to see if the OS VectorMap products address this market, as Ordnance Survey hope they will