How Scotland is mapping the way in geospatial data

Geospatial data is a hot topic right now and with the Government pledging £80m over two years to the cause - which is estimated to unlock up to £11bn for the economy every year - it is clear why.

At the end of 2017, the Chancellor announced the creation of the Geospatial Commission to maximise the value of all UK government data linked to location. Location data is increasingly relevant for sectors including finance, transport, housing, retail and many more. Decisions about public and private investment and services increasingly make use of geospatial data to create a holistic view and, as such, many organisations are willing to pay for this valuable information.

The Geospatial Commission draws together six public bodies which have rich datasets. These are: HM Land Registry, the Ordnance Survey, the British Geological Survey, the Valuation Office Agency, the UK Hydrographic Office and the Coal Authority - collectively known as the Geo6.

Iain McKay, who is Head of the Spatial Information Service at the Improvement Service in Scotland, suggests that local authorities in England and Wales - of which there are nearing 400 - would together have more spatial data than some members of the Geo6. "You can't do anything to land or property without the local authority knowing about it," he points out.

McKay has been instrumental in getting the 32 Scottish authorities to agree to provide its geospatial data to the Spatial Hub - a resource which now gives a single point of access to quality-assured Scottish local authority spatial data in a consistent format. It currently gives access to 26 datasets, such as car parking, green belts, planning applications, vacant and derelict land, to name a few, but has identified around 70 potentially valuable datasets. The basis of charging for commercial usage of the Spatial Hub data is in respect of the value add in making the data available, not for each council's individual datasets.

There are many benefits for both the local authorities and those requesting the data. It chiefly saves local authorities and data seekers time and money by removing the need for each local authority to respond to requests individually under the Freedom of Information Act. It standardises the data and puts it all in one place, allowing those seeking data not only to view it but use it in their own applications too. In addition, it means Scottish local authorities can easily comply with their requirement under the EU Directive INSPIRE to make environmental information available to outside parties.

The Improvement Service is a company, limited by guarantee, funded through the Local Government grant settlement, with 34 members - 32 councils plus the Society for Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) and COSLA , the voice of Local Government in Scotland. As such, it puts any profits from commercial requests for geospatial data back into the system to improve spatial data quality in Scottish local authorities. This has included training days for data custodians, working with schoolchildren to get them to understand the role of geospatial information and its possibilities for future careers and it also hopes to start sponsoring a graduate apprenticeship in data science.

"Authorities have well-documented funding shortages and are struggling to fund frontline services but they do have an asset in their geospatial data which is kept in silos and not valued," explains McKay. "The spatial data is of variable quality across authorities and we are trying support data quality improvement because we believe that there is a real value to the data."

McKay said the Improvement Service has just written to Scottish councils at the end of its first year of operating the Spatial Hub to say it is redistributing £250,000 to improve data quality. "This is beginning to get noticed. We estimate that, with good marketing, we could potentially generate a substantial revenue stream to put back into supporting the councils," he added.

When asked what the potential benefits are to public services, McKay says these are clear. "As an example, commercial retailers spend a lot of money on data analysis and working out where customer demand lies, they don't just put a pin in the map. Effective service provision by the public sector also depends on having good data. The better data you have, the better decisions you should be able to make."

Getting the Spatial Hub off the ground was not easy - it took 18 months to get signed agreements from all 32 councils - but, once signed up, the Spatial Hub is intended not to impose any additional burdens upon local authorities in contributing their data. "In some authorities it is done through an API [Application Programming Interface], where we access their live data then clean it, whilst other authorities upload their data through the portal," McKay explains.

Much effort has been put into getting data custodians in the local authorities on board. "We have put store and resources into forming relationships with the people who are doing this work on a day-to-day basis and paid to run training courses and workshops for custodians. We are helping to raise the profile of their jobs and, to this end, they are more likely to co-operate with requests."

Could the same be achieved in England and Wales with its nearing 400 local authorities? McKay is in discussion with the Geospatial Commission to talk about what has been achieved in Scotland. "I don't know how easy it would be to recreate at a national level," he admits, "but you could probably achieve it in regional groups."

For its part, GeoPlace – a joint venture between the Local Government Association (LGA) and Ordnance Survey, which already collects address and street data from councils in England and Wales – is also interested in the concept of the Spatial Hub. Claire Holloway, Head of Corporate Services at the LGA and Chair of the GeoPlace Board, said: “Whilst cleaning such spatial data from nearly 400 councils would be a much bigger endeavour than in Scotland, it’s something we’re keen to investigate further, in order to consider it fully.”

Dominic Cuthbert, Scottish Public Sector Manager for Ordnance Survey, which has been supporting and working with the Spatial Hub for the last 18 months, added: “The recognition of the importance of geospatial data has never been higher, with public and private sector organisations across Great Britain using accurate, maintained location data to support products, services and deliver efficiencies and value to their organisations and customers.

“The UK has a reputation as a global geospatial leader and the work of the Improvement Service Spatial Hub and Geospatial Commission will reinforce this position, as well as unlocking further value in geospatial data and increasing economic growth and productivity.”

And if approached to join a project, why should local authorities in England and Wales consider participating? "The main benefit to Scottish authorities has been support in terms of resources into improving the quality of geospatial data, which in turn improves their own ability to make better decisions," McKay concludes.