- le premier étend les licences d'utilisation standard, à la publication de cartes sans but lucratif (sur papier et sur Internet), notamment en vue de l'information du public.

- le second annonce le succès de l'accord entre l'OS et le ministère del'environnement (DETR) pour la cartographie des zones rurales financée par l'Etat : 40 000 km2 en 1999 pour environ 150 Millions de Francs...

- le troisième décrit l'accès en ligne au catalogue de 229 00 cartes à travers un index de mots clés (noms géographiques ou coordonnées) avec prévisualisation de vignettes... cet index est mis à jour en temps réel (mise à jour ou ajout tous les jours de nouveaux objets).

Ordnance Survey : Mapmaker points the way to online freedom

Thousands of people holding licences from Ordnance Survey are to enjoy greater freedoms in their use of Britain's most detailed mapping.

The national mapmaker has reviewed the way its large-scale data is licensed, and is phasing in a package of changes to simplify and spread use both on the Internet and on paper. Businesses, individual citizens and local and central government all stand to benefit.

Up to now, customers have been able to license Ordnance Survey mapping for internal day-to-day running of their organisations. Now, within the same licence, they will be able to publish it externally for display and promotion so long as there is no direct financial gain. This means mapping can be put online or in brochures and leaflets, at no extra charge, to explain and support the licensee's activities.

The changes will enable local authorities, for example, to produce online maps advising residents of proposed traffic calming measures, and tate agents to post property maps on their web sites. Any organisation will be able to publish online or paper mapping, within the terms of their licence, showing people the location of a seminar, annual general meeting, or open day.

Some restrictions will apply to protect the copyright of Ordnance Survey material. Paper publications will be limited to an A3 size map extract, which must be overlaid with information on the licensee's business. A background watermark identifying the licensee may be required.

Customers going beyond the limit of the new arrangements will continue to need a specific publishing licence, and those who want to make financial gain from Ordnance Survey mapping will have to become Licensed Partners.

However, the new arrangements still mark a major step forward in the agency's bid to boost the public use of geospatial data.

"It will encourage far greater use of our mapping," says Ordnance Survey's Director-General and Chief Executive, Vanessa Lawrence. "Much more Ordnance Survey material will be available on the Internet and in paper reports and leaflets. In many cases up to now it has been left out because people are put off by perceptions of cost and bureaucracy. We are constantly seeking to change what we do for the better, and these new arrangements will help us maximise the use of our mapping for the benefit of the nation."

The changes are being introduced in stages across the range of Ordnance Survey licences, starting this autumn with agreements involving local and central government. The move also applies to customers of both Licensed Partners and Superplan Agents - the dedicated network of outlets for our large-scale mapping.

>From January 2001 some 14,000 customers licensed to copy paper maps on standard terms will enjoy the new freedoms. Among them are solicitors, architects and estate agents. They too will be able to add Internet use to their licence.

Senior Press Officer - Philip Round
E-mail: pround@ordsvy.gov.uk
Phone: (+44) 023 8079 2635

Work to update the most detailed maps of rural Britain has been accelerated thanks to investment by Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions.

Updating the detailed maps of rural, mountain and moorland areas is one of a wide range of services provided by Ordnance Survey under the national Interest Mapping Services Agreement (NIMSA) with DETR.

Published today (26 Sept), the first NIMSA Annual Report describes the specific mapping services which were provided, in the national interest, in the first year, at a cost of £15.4 million.

Computerised maps covering almost 40,000 square kilometres, each showing detail as fine as the shapes of individual buildings and the pattern of field walls and hedgerows, have been revised over a 12 month period.

Welcoming the success of the DETR-financed arrangement, the Minister responsible for Ordnance Survey, Beverley Hughes MP said: "This intensive programme, covering an area twice the size of Wales in a single year, means that the rural map revision programme is now firmly back on track after some years of under-investment," "As a result, the most detailed mapping of Great Britain is more up-to-date than at any time in the 209-year history of Ordnance Survey.

Now we must strive to improve it still further."

"More and more organisations in both the public and private sectors need first-rate geographical information to deliver better public services or run more effective business operations. So it is in everyone's interest that there is consistent, high-quality and more up-to-date digital mapping for the whole country. This Government investment supports that."

The updated mapping information has been gathered by ground-based surveyors and aerial photography teams from both Ordnance Survey and private sector companies contracted by the mapping agency to help speed the work.

The Minister continued:

"The first NIMSA Annual Report shows there has been progress on all fronts this year. In addition to the rural revision programme, I am particularly pleased that work on improvements to the main database and the creation of the on-line positioning network has forged ahead."

The new Director General of Ordnance Survey, Vanessa Lawrence, commented:

"NIMSA is about maintaining the map base to a level and specification that satisfies the national interest as well as the needs of commercial customers. The Government's welcome contribution to the cost of these activities recognises that this vital work could not be justified on purely commercial grounds.

"I am delighted that so much has been delivered in the first year of this on-going programme, and I am determined that we will achieve even more in the future."

In addition to rural map updating, other projects required in the national interest include re-engineering and enhancing the capabilities of Ordnance Survey's national computer map database; creating and maintaining digital data which is being used for a new generation of 1:10,000 and 1:25,000 scale mapping; replacing the traditional trig pillar network by establishing a 3-D geographical positioning system for Britain linking ground stations with orbiting satellites and making the information freely available over the Internet; and ensuring all administrative and lectoralboundaries in Britain are kept up to date.

DETR Press enquiries: 020 7944 4602; out of hours 020 7944 5925/5945
Ordnance Survey Press enquiries: 023 8079 2635
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 3333; Email: press@detr.gov.uk
Press Notices available via DETR website: www.detr.gov.uk

The free service at www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk opens up a window on what is shown on any of the mapping agency's 229,000 Land-Line digital maps.

Land-Line is the most detailed digital mapping that exists of Britain and covers every part of the country - so detailed it even shows the shapes of individual buildings. Used primarily by utility companies, estate managers, agricultural landowners and by local and central government, it pinpoints both man-made and natural features ranging from houses, factories, roads and rivers to marshland and administrative boundaries.

Ordnance Survey's Director General, Vanessa Lawrence, comments:

"Electronic mapping data at the level of detail contained in Land-Line demands an illustrated electronic index to enable customers to pinpoint the information they need. Our new on-line Land-Line tile selector does just that. "Simply by keying in a place name, postcode or National Grid map reference - or by zooming in from an outline map of Britain - users can identify the precise map tiles they need and then view a thumbnail image of what each contains. These thumbnails show just enough detail to confirm the user's requirements.

"What's more, they are updated every night to reflect any new information that has been included in our database and which is available for supply to customers. This will include such features as new housing and road developments which have been surveyed by our staff across Britain."

To access the selector go to www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk then follow the navigation Digital map data/Detailed products/Land-Line/Tile selector,