Corporate report

Geospatial Commission: Board of Commissioners meeting 20 August 2019

Published 11 October 2019

Geospatial Commission, Second Board of Commissioners

20 August 2019, 10:00 - 15:30

Royal Geographical Society,

1 Kensington Gore, Kensington, London, SW7 2AR

Commissioners

Sir Andrew Dilnot (Chair)
Nigel Clifford
Thalia Baldwin
Dame Kate Barker
Steve Blair
Kru Desai
Michael Mire
Steve Unger

Commission unit

Ellen Bentley
Joe Cuddeford
Jamie Clark (for item 5)
Hugh Phillips (for item 5)
Owen Jackson
Jon Lakin (for item 3)
Heath Pritchard (for item 3)

External

Professor Joe Smith (Director of the Royal Geographic Society, for item 4)

Observers

Roger Halliday (Scottish Government)
Glyn Jones (Welsh Government)
Jim Lennon (Northern Irish Government)

Apologies

Edwina Dunn OBE

1. Minutes and matters arising

1. Apologies were received from Edwina Dunn.
2. The minutes of the previous meeting were reviewed and, subject to two amendments, approved for publication.
3. Steve Blair reported that he and Michael Mire, as the two commissioners nominated by the Commission’s six Partner Bodies to represent them, had consulted with Partner Bodies ahead of this meeting.
4. The Chair addressed the Board’s declarations of interest.
   1. Item 5 on public sector geospatial data, was considered in light of Steve Blair’s role as CEO of Ordnance Survey. It was agreed that as the discussion would focus on high-level strategic questions and not the specific details of contract negotiations, it was appropriate for Steve to remain in the discussion.

2. Overview of the devolved landscape

1. Jim Lennon introduced the geospatial landscape in Northern Ireland. Jim highlighted some of Northern Ireland’s geospatial priorities which included: building up skills and understanding of the value of geospatial data in the public sector, promoting data-sharing, and reducing the impact of data-duplication.
2. Glyn Jones introduced the geospatial landscape in Wales. Glyn highlighted some of Wales’ geospatial priorities which included: developing an authoritative, resilient data source for Wales (geo-portal ‘Lle’), and investing in educational and professional interest in GIS to ensure a sustainable workforce.
3. Roger Halliday introduced the geospatial landscape in Scotland. Roger highlighted some of Scotland’s geospatial priorities which included: driving innovation, improving public services and unlocking economic value.
4. The Board recognised the variety of ongoing work in the devolved administrations, and noted its responsibility to set a UK wide strategy that accounted for all parts of the UK. It was agreed that the UK strategy would recognise and reflect the diversity of geospatial work across the devolved administrations.
5. It was confirmed that as the devolved administrations continue to develop their work, the Geospatial Commission will work with them to learn from their experience and seek their input into the national geospatial strategy.

3. National Underground Asset Register programme

1. Heath Pritchard presented the Commission’s work so far on its National Underground Asset Register programme. Two pilot projects are currently in operation, one in the North-East of England and one in London, with regular deliverables and insights to inform the Commission’s thinking.
2. The Board discussed the following themes:
   1. Responsibility for data accuracy and transformation, and liability for error.
   2. The importance of interoperability of data.
   3. Motivation for stakeholders to engage and mechanisms to ensure continued engagement.
   4. How to establish a clear baseline and deliverables concerning strike rate as the primary use case, and benefits to other use cases such as planning and future network build.
   5. How to ensure the appropriate safeguarding of sensitive data.
   6. What type and scale of organisations would be appropriate to own and manage a national register.
   7. How to approach a potential scale up from pilot phase to national rollout and engage local authorities and economies.
3. It was agreed that the team will take the Board’s comments into account and update the Board on key developments.

4. Introduction to the Royal Geographical Society

1. Professor Joe Smith, Director of the Royal Geographical Society, gave an introduction to the RGS and its current priorities. Joe emphasised the power of the geography discipline to convene across the physical and social sciences and the central role for RGS.

5. Public sector geospatial data

1. Jamie Clark and Hugh Phillips presented the Commission’s work so far on public sector geospatial data, with a focus on challenges associated with quality of and access to geospatial data.
2. The Board discussed the following themes:
   1. Core objectives of the transition to a new model for public sector access to geospatial data.
   2. The prospect that technological advances could change the dynamics of geospatial data markets.
   3. What kinds of datasets are understood as ‘foundation data’ and how much value they hold alongside other datasets.
   4. Potential barriers to public and private sector access to and use of geospatial data, including property rights structures.
   5. Wider market drivers of user demand and developments within the private sector.
   6. How public sector bodies that create geospatial data, including the Commission’s Partner Bodies, can be in a position to serve the market well.

6. Conclusions and next steps

1. There was no other business. The next meeting of the Board of Commissioners will take place on Tuesday 24 September 2019.