Ordnance Survey (OS) is ramping up its services during the Covid-19 outbreak by setting up a special licence for organisations involved in developing response strategies, enabling them to get free access to the location data it holds.
The organisation said the licence will be in addition to the data covered by the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement and One Scotland Mapping Agreement and applies for the specific purpose of supporting responses to the pandemic.
The licence provides access to a range of OS products, including addressing and road datasets and detailed topographic data.
This information could be used to create web or mobile apps that use location data, and to identify and understand the proximity of key services in specific areas, such as pharmacies. It could also help with the planning and allocation of resources, such as transportation to hospitals.
OS has also created a group of data packages to support public authorities in their response to Covid-19, which are free to organisations that can show they are involved in dealing with the pandemic.
A spokesman said: “We’ve seen a huge demand for addressing points of interest data. Rather than taking customers through how to run through queries we thought it would be better to provide the data in packages they were likely to find useful.”
A key element of the data provides the location and addresses of care homes, pharmacies and GP practices, reflecting the need of public authorities to coordinate their efforts to support vulnerable groups.
Other sets cover transport hubs and networks, electricity sites and lines, and the local and areas of car parks, hotels and supermarket chains.
The organisation has also set up an emergency response team to support the NHS, emergency services and local authorities in their handling of the crisis.
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