New guide aims to make location data more accessible

New guide aims to make location data more accessible

 ●     New guide on linked identifiers published today by government’s Geospatial Commission

●     The guide makes it quicker and easier to get an exact overview of all the information at particular locations

●     Recommendations to help save time and money for organisations working with datasets

A new guide will help join together data on the country’s infrastructure and natural features - from housing and railways to roads, rivers and forests.

Published today by the government’s Geospatial Commission, the Linked Identifiers Best Practice Guide recommends that every geographical object in the UK - be it a building, waterway or road - should have a unique identifier or code. 

Any data produced by other organisations responsible for different objects at the same location would then be linked together using that unique identifier.

Following the guide’s instructions will make it quicker and easier to get an exact overview of the information connected to a particular location. This saves time and money for people or organisations accessing information typically spread across different datasets, when, for example, buying a house, managing a road network or responding to an emergency.

The Minister for Implementation, Simon Hart MP, said:

“This guide makes gathering together different pieces of information relating to one place or object easier and quicker.

“Organisations that follow the guidance will really help to start unlocking the value of this data for the benefit of users, innovators, businesses, and ultimately the wider UK economy. ”

Thalia Baldwin, Director of the Geospatial Commission, added:

“This guide is part of the Geospatial Commission’s £5million investment into our partner bodies to make the data held by them more easily discoverable, simplifying their licensing landscapes and identifying ways of linking data from different agencies. 

“I would like to thank them for their hard work in working together to publish this guide today to respond to user needs.”

The publication of the guide is the latest step in the government’s commitment to digital transformation.