Corporate report

Geospatial Commission: Board of Commissioners meeting 25 July 2019

Published 5 September 2019

Geospatial Commission, First Board of Commissioners

25 July 2019, 10:00 - 15:30

George Stephenson Room, Institution of Mechanical Engineers,

1 Birdcage Walk, Westminster, London, SW1H 9JJ

Commissioners

Sir Andrew Dilnot (Chair)
Nigel Clifford
Thalia Baldwin
Dame Kate Barker
Steve Blair
Kru Desai
Edwina Dunn OBE
William Priest
Steve Unger

Commission unit

Ellen Bentley
Joe Cuddeford
Owen Jackson

Observers

Caren Fullerton (Welsh Government)
Roger Halliday (Scottish Government)
Jim Lennon (Northern Irish Government)

Apologies

Michael Mire

1. Welcome and introductions

1. The Chair welcomed attendees to the first meeting of the Board of Commissioners.
2. The Chair communicated his gratitude to the outgoing Director of the Geospatial Commission, William Priest, for bringing the Commission to its current position. Thalia Baldwin was welcomed as the new Director.

2. Introduction to the Commission

1. Thalia provided an overview of the Commission’s set up, governance, recent activities and current priorities. The overview covered:
   1. existing programmes underway such as the Underground Assets Register, improvements to Partner Body data sets, and a set of projects around crowdsourcing of data;
   2. negotiation and renewal of public sector contracts; and
   3. gathering of evidence and stakeholder perspectives to inform the development of a national geospatial strategy.

3. Ways of working

1. Joe introduced a set of working principles for the Board of Commissioners.
2. The Board considered the requirements set by the Commission’s Charter and Framework and discussed the practical arrangements for running the formal Board meetings and preferred ways of working.
3. It was agreed that there will be transparency around Board meetings and summary minutes will be published in a timely manner. It was also confirmed Board meetings should be an open environment allowing discussion and constructive challenge between Commissioners.
4. It was agreed that the working principles of the Board will be formalised in a Terms of Reference.

4. Developing a strategy

1. Thalia introduced the context and approach that the Commission had taken so far towards the development of a national geospatial strategy. A Call for Evidence in August 2018 helped to inform the establishment of the Commission, receiving over 200 responses with an even split between private and public sector respondents.
2. The Commission identified particular gaps in the evidence base, which it is now seeking to address. In April 2019 the Commission published an Annual Plan which provided an update on work to date, and a look ahead to priorities for 2019/20.
3. A set of key policy questions to guide thinking, evidence gathering and engagement were discussed, including:
   1. How do we define geospatial data’s special characteristics compared to other data types?
   2. What is the nature of the geospatial market?
   3. What are the relevant policy considerations for approaching a geospatial data access framework?
   4. What are the highest value opportunities?
   5. What is government’s rationale and mechanisms for intervention?
4. The Board discussed the following themes:
   1. The economic valuation of data, and of the capital infrastructure that allows data to be collected, processed and analysed in ever more efficient and powerful ways.
   2. The means by which the value of geospatial data could be enhanced, including: increasing resolution, improved timeliness, and linking with other datasets.
   3. How to ensure a reliable and sustainable skills-base and professional interest in geospatial data in both public and private sectors.
   4. The significance of marine geospatial data, particularly as the first to embrace autonomous transport on a large scale.
   5. Other policy work in the public sector around data and digital and how geospatial policy intersects with this, both nationally and internationally.
   6. How the value of geospatial data could be better communicated to a wider audience, and possible opportunities for showcasing the value and use of existing public sector datasets.

5. Conclusions and next steps

1. It was agreed that future meetings of the Board will focus on specific themes for the strategy.
2. Meetings may also consider progress updates from the main projects that the Commission is delivering, and input from the Commission’s Partner Bodies.
3. There was no other business. The Board of Commissioners will meet next on 20 August 2019.