Le portail francophone de la géomatique

Vous trouverez ci dessous le texte de trois communiques de presse de
l'Ordnance Survey qui me paraissent interessants :
- le premier etend les licences d'utilisation standard, a la publication
de cartes sans but lucratif (sur papier et sur Internet), notamment en vue
de l'information du public.
- le second annonce le succes de l'accord entre l'OS et le ministere de
l'environnement (DETR) pour la cartographie des zones rurales financee par
l'Etat : 40 000 km2 en 1999 pour environ 150 Millions de Francs...
- le troisieme decrit l'acces en ligne au catalogue de 229 00 cartes a
travers un index de mots cles (noms geographiques ou coordonnees) avec
previsualisation de vignettes... cet index est mis a jour en temps reel
(mise a jour ou ajout tous les jours de nouveaux objets).

Georges BERTRAND, Urbatique

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 estate
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@texte-a-enlever.ordsvy.gov.uk
Phone: ( 44) 023 8079 2635

Government investment speeds rural map updating

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 electoral
boundaries 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@texte-a-enlever.detr.gov.uk
Press Notices available via DETR website: www.detr.gov.uk

Acces en ligne a 229 000 cartes numeriques de l’Ordnance survey

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,