Ordnance Survey sets out to enhance its aerial mapping technologies

Ordnance Survey (OS) has signed an agreement with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), negotiated by its technology transfer arm, Ploughshare Innovations, to allow it to licence various forms of cutting edge aerial mapping technology.

The main technologies covered by the licence will enable the rapid processing, classification, analysis and extraction of geographic content from satellite and aerial images. The capability could facilitate the efficient production of new types of mapping content of the natural and man-made environments.

Paul Cruddace, OS Technical Change and Innovation Manager said: “We are always looking for opportunities to improve and increase our data capture and processing capabilities – creating new approaches to generating geospatial content. In accessing and applying technology of this nature, the hope is that it will allow us to further optimise our current operations as well as provide new capabilities and geospatial content to current and future customers.

“It is a great opportunity to partner Dstl. For over two centuries, OS has continuously invested and innovated in new ways to map the environment. We are looking forward to exploring, trialling and hopefully adopting the latest innovations from Dstl and I am excited to see how they can enhance our processes and geospatial content to provide our customers with premier mapping services.”

Ploughshare’s CEO James Kirby added: “This is the latest contract that we have signed which supports the use of technologies developed by the defence and security sectors in other areas. The technology has the potential to improve the speed that maps can be prepared and to enhance their accuracy.”

This licencing agreement will enable Ordnance Survey to assess the technologies initially, in order to determine the potential efficiency benefits and enhancements they offer to gathering mapping data, prior to taking a full license.

Dstl

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) maximises the impact of science and technology (S&T) for the defence and security of the UK, supplying sensitive and specialist S&T services for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and wider government.

Dstl is an Executive Agency of the MOD, run along commercial lines. It is one of the principal government organisations dedicated to S&T in the defence and security field, with three main sites at Porton Down, near Salisbury, Portsdown West, near Portsmouth, and Fort Halstead, near Sevenoaks. Dstl works with a wide range of partners and suppliers in industry, in academia and overseas. Around 60% of MOD’s Science and Technology Programme is delivered by these external partners and suppliers.

Ploughshare Innovations:

Ploughshare Innovations was formed in 2005 to commercialise and exploit Dstl’s intellectual property generated from its research. Since its establishment, Ploughshare has commercialised more than 124 technologies and launched twelve spin-out companies, principally for civilian applications. Ploughshare, has also negotiated licences in the defence field resulting in research being pulled through into defence products to meet defence requirements.www.ploughshareinnovations.com

For further information contact Rob Andrews on 02380 055563 or robert.andrews@os.uk