Corporate report

Geospatial Commission: Board of Commissioners meeting, 4 October 2021

Published 30 November 2021

Geospatial Commission: Board of Commissioners meeting, 4 October 2021

Google Meet

9.00 - 10.35

Attendees

Commissioners: Bernard Silverman (Chair), Nigel Clifford (Deputy Chair), Thalia Baldwin, Kru Desai, Edwina Dunn, Alex Notay, Steve Unger

Nominated Commissioners: Karen Hanghøj

Commission Unit: Catherine Carter-McGrath, Jamie Clark, Ros Goodfellow, (Minutes by: Liz Conn)

Observers: Alan Corbett (for Albert King, Scotland), Glyn Jones (Wales), Jim Lennon (Northern Ireland), Sarah Henry (ONS).

Apologies: Steve Blair, Albert King

1. Minutes and Matters Arising

1.1. The board welcomed Sarah Henry, Director of Methods, Data and Research at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to join as a regular observer to the board, given the close connections between location data and statistical analysis.

1.2. The minutes of the July meeting were agreed and approved for publication.

1.3. No other matters were noted.

2. Report from the Nominated Commissioners

2.1. Karen Hanghøj gave a summary of the points raised at the Nominated Commissioners’ meeting on 30th September.

2.2. The Partner Bodies are keen to demonstrate how their work, in addition to the overarching work of the Geospatial Commission, supports and delivers the UK Geospatial Strategy and asked to provide an update at the next board meeting.

2.3. The Partner Bodies had reviewed and were content with delivery status of key strategy commitments.

2.4. Karen provided an update that the Partner Bodies had met in September and discussed how they could increase synergies across their work.

3. Report from the Director of the Commission

3.1. Thalia thanked the Partner Bodies for their update and welcomed the opportunity for them to update the board on the work they all do to support the national strategy at the next board meeting.

3.2. Thalia outlined the significant progress made by the Geospatial Commission in August and September, including:

• The launch of the national roll out of the National Underground Asset Register, which included Lord True’s visit to a site in Darlington, and Nigel chairing an industry  roundtable;
• The publication of the transport findings report “Positioning the UK in the fast lane - location data opportunities for better UK transport”;
• The development of the new Space and Geospatial Services dynamic purchasing system that will give enable the public sector to procure geospatial data and services more efficiently;;
• The GC’s intention to legislate to specify the sharing of underground asset data in support of NUAR and to broaden access to property attribute data held by the Valuation Office Agency, were included in Lord Frost’s announcement on Brexit regulatory reforms.
• The launch of pilots in Devon, West Midlands and Northern Ireland to improve how data about land is used in the UK.

4. Update on Annual Plan - Delivery on Commitments

4.1. Ros Goodfellow updated on delivery of the Commission’s Annual Plan commitments since the Spring, as well as giving a forward look for the rest of this financial year, and welcomed the board’s thoughts on the overall trajectory as well as on specific projects.

4.2. The board was asked to note:

4.2.1 On Mission 1 (Promote and Safeguard the use of Location Data), a full update on data ethics will come to the November board meeting, including covering the public dialogue project with Traverse and the Ada Lovelace Institute;

4.2.2 NUAR is currently on track, but contains a high degree of novelty and complexity.

4.3. The board discussed the complexities and challenges around a targeted and impactful geospatial skills approach and agreed it should be a substantive item for a future board discussion, alongside an update on the Geospatial Commission’s international strategy.

4.4. The board thanked Ros and the team for the clear framework for the discussion.

5. Any Other Business

5.1.   The Nominated Commissioners’ annual terms are nearing an end. Thalia will liaise with Karen on nominations for who will represent the Partner Bodies for the next 12 months.

5.2.   The next board meeting will be a hybrid event, with the physical location to be Edinburgh to celebrate the Location Data Scotland anniversary.

5.3.   On COP26, the Commission team are working with the Partner Bodies to support each other in the promotion of events, including as part of both the virtual KTN Space and Geospatial event and the Science Pavillion event coordinated with the Met Office.