About us
The Geospatial Commission is an expert committee responsible for setting the UK’s geospatial strategy and coordinating public sector geospatial activity.
The Geospatial Commission
The Geospatial Commission was established in 2018 by the government as an expert committee, within the Cabinet Office, responsible for setting the UK’s geospatial strategy and coordinating public sector geospatial activity.
In February 2023, following a machinery of government change, the Geospatial Commission moved from the Cabinet Office to the newly formed Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
The Geospatial Commission has a mandate and budget to drive and deliver changes by working in partnership with others. This means we:
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provide strategic oversight of the geospatial ecosystem in the UK, setting geospatial strategy, policy and standards
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hold the budget for the public sector’s largest investment in location data, the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA)
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make targeted investments in projects that accelerate innovation and adoption of location data, applications and services
UK Geospatial Strategy 2030
The UK Geospatial Strategy 2030 outlines the government’s plan to unlock the power of location data and technologies across the UK economy.
The strategy will unlock billions of pounds in economic benefits through harnessing technologies such as AI, satellite imaging and real-time data to boost location-powered innovation and driving the use of location data in key markets, such as property, transport and utilities.
The strategy sets out an ambitious programme of activity, across three key missions:
- Mission 1: Embrace enabling technologies to accelerate geospatial innovation
- Mission 2: Drive greater use of geospatial applications and insights across the economy
- Mission 3: Build confidence in the future geospatial ecosystem
Our priorities for 2023/24
The Geospatial Commission’s key priorities for the coming year include:
- Rolling out the current, minimum viable product version of the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) beyond Wales, London and North East England to the remaining regions in England and Northern Ireland
- Conducting a review of the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA) to ensure it remains fit for purpose over the remaining seven years of the agreement
- Concluding our Earth Observation pilot testing how the public sector’s access to and innovative use of earth observation data can be supported
- Commencing a project into population movement data, including its strategic importance, privacy and security implications and use in the public sector
- Build on the National Land Data Programme to explore the creation of a Land Use Analysis Taskforce, bringing together a shared spatial analysis capability to provide a spatially-explicit evidence base that will help inform the delivery of key national priorities
- Publishing reports on the property ecosystem, the delivery of connected and automated mobility and findings for the public sector to make more informed decisions about electric vehicle chargepoint locations
Governance
The Geospatial Commission comprises a unit of civil servants and an advisory Board of Commissioners. The Board works closely with the unit and provides expert advice on the strategic direction of the Geospatial Commission. The Commissioners are:
Stephen Lake (Chair & Interim CEO, Ordnance Survey) and Peter Sparkes (Chief Executive, UK Hydrographic Office) are the two commissioners currently nominated by the partner bodies of the Geospatial Commission to represent them collectively on the Board.
The Geospatial Commission was set up to represent the UK as a whole. A representative from each of the devolved administrations (Welsh Government, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive) is invited to the Board of Commissioners meetings as observers.
Partner bodies
The Geospatial Commission has a formal relationship with six, core ‘partner bodies’ (the Geo6):
Each of these partners play a central role in the delivery of the UK Geospatial Strategy 2030 - both through the geospatial data they hold and their extensive expertise.
One of the critical roles for the Geospatial Commission is to bring the six partner bodies together with a focus on interoperability and collaboration to maximise the opportunities of the data and expertise that they hold.