Corporate report

Minutes of Fourteenth meeting of the Geospatial Commission board of commissioners, 23 March 2021

Published 2 July 2021

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Minutes of Fourteenth meeting of the Geospatial Commission board of commissioners, 23 March 2021

Teleconference

Commissioners

Nigel Clifford (Interim Chair), Thalia Baldwin, Dame Kate Barker, Kru Desai, Edwina Dunn OBE, Steve Unger, Karen Hanghøj, Michael Mire

Commission Unit

Jamie Clark, Rosalind Goodfellow, Catherine Carter-McGrath, Liz Conn, Catherine Young, Arif Islam, Alasdair Kyle, Amelia Napier, Faiyaz Amin, Joe Cuddeford, Abigail Page, Fiona Booth

Observers

Glyn Jones (Welsh Government), Albert King (Scottish Government), Jim Lennon (Northern Ireland Executive),

External Speaker

Daniel Ruiz, CEO, Zenzic

Apologies

Steve Blair

1. Minutes and Matters Arising

1.1. The minutes of the January meeting were agreed and approved for publication.

1.2. No other matters were noted.

2. Report from Nominated Commissioners

2.1. Karen Hanghøj gave an update on the points raised at the Nominated Commissioners’ meeting on Thursday 18th March. She highlighted a desire from Partner Bodies (PBs) for continued close engagement with the Commission’s work and requested an opportunity to collaborate with the Commission on the Board agenda and papers. Additionally, Karen highlighted the Partner Bodies intention to have regular debriefs after Board meetings, and annual workshops to share forward plans.

2.2. The Board welcomed the continued close collaboration between the six partner bodies and noted the key role they play in the delivery of the UK’s Geospatial Strategy. In addition, the Board values the expertise of the Partner Bodies in contributing to relevant papers for the board

3. Report from the Director of the Commission

3.1. Thalia provided an overview of work across the Commission since the January board meeting, including the publication of the Planning and Housing Landscape review; the launch of the public dialogue on location data ethics; and, outward facing engagement including the Westminster e-forum event. She also highlighted recent blogs that have been published on emergency response and the value of geospatial data products and services for Transport.

3.2. The Board thanked Thalia and her team within the Geospatial Commission for maintaining high quality work and focus during the past financial year.

4. Update on Geospatial Commission’s Annual Plan

4.1. Catherine McGrath introduced the work on the Geospatial Commissions 2021/22 Annual Plan. The publication of an annual plan is a requirement of the Commission’s Framework document and provides a useful opportunity to set out plans for the forthcoming year. The Annual Plan will be shared with the Partner Bodies, Devolved Administrations and departments represented on the Ministerial Steering Group prior to sign-off and publication.

4.2. The Annual Plan will be structured around the four missions of the UK’s Geospatial Strategy and include a section that reflects the work that partner bodies have undertaken to assess the quality of the data they hold and extent to which it is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).  The Board agreed that assessment of the data held by partner bodies needs to be developed in collaboration with them, and should be used to collectively identify key areas for focus for the year ahead.

4.3. The Board discussed the timeline for input to the annual plan and asked to be updated on progress as the Annual Plan progresses.

5. Mission 2: Update on Crown Commercial Services Framework

5.1. Jamie Clark introduced a paper on the Commission’s project, in partnership with Commercial teams, to embed provisions in government contracts to enable increased data sharing. He updated the board on engagement with the Government Commercial function, who set the commercial policy for government and the Crown Commercial Service who implement the policy through a range of procurement frameworks.

5.2. The Board noted an opportunity to improve the guidance on the use of provisions to enable data sharing and Intellectual Property (IP) retention, where appropriate. They agreed that the Commission should focus on pursuing improvements to new contracts, rather than retrofitting existing contracts to the updated guidance. The Board suggested that the team focus on contracts that are in the process of being re-negotiated to explore how changes to data sharing would work. They also discussed the connection to other Commission projects such as on location data ethics and public confidence.

5.3.  The Board noted that in some instances conceding IP to the private sector as part of the contract negotiation may lead to a more beneficial outcome. As such, they advised that the Commission retain flexibility in the guidance to enable IP to be considered as part of contract price negotiations.

5.4.  The Board noted the work undertaken to explore options for central procurement for datasets where there are multi-stakeholder requirements for the data. This includes options for a space and geospatial dynamic purchasing system which will enable public sector bodies to commission data and services using a common set of use terms and pricing structures. The Board welcomed the update on the work that the team have done to support a series of workshops with potential suppliers and customers.

6. Mission 2: Using Location Data to Support Positive Environmental Outcomes

6.1. Rosalind Goodfellow introduced a paper on how location data is being used to support the government’s environmental priorities, such as net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and protection of at least 30% of land and oceans for biodiversity by 2030.

6.2. The Board welcomed the case study from BGS and Coal Authority on how they are utilising data about the subsurface to support greener energy and  decarbonisation.

6.3. The Board discussed the Digital Object Identifier as a tool to connect complex metadata from research papers with specific locations. BGS colleagues agreed to explore the interplay between DOIs and UPRNs.

6.4. The Board discussed the importance of good location data to support better decisions about the competing uses for land, and the opportunity for the Commission to help to amplify the environmental benefits of data collection programmes. They also suggested that the Commission consider how to best link in with academic work on this topic.

7. External Speaker: Daniel Ruiz, CEO, Zenzic

7.1. Daniel Ruiz, CEO of Zenzic joined the meeting and presented on the opportunities and challenges of location data within the connected and automated mobility ecosystem.

8. The Transport Location Data Opportunity

8.1. Rosalind Goodfellow updated the board on the work of the Commission, engaging a wide range of stakeholders, to explore where government intervention may be needed to unlock the full value of location data for the future of mobility. The update included the latest on the Commission’s Transport Innovation Competition with Innovate UK and the Commission’s strategic engagement with businesses through a Location Data Task-force and six round tables, chaired by Steve Unger.

8.2. The Board welcomed the team’s approach to wider engagement which has enabled the Commission to identify both strategic common themes and specific use-cases where government intervention could be a catalyst for economic, social and environmental benefit. The Board endorsed the focus on a relatively small number of priority interventions and discussed the Commission’s broader role in supporting and enabling others to take action.

8.3. The team agreed to update the board as they narrow down options for potential interventions and recommendations and welcomed ongoing input from the Board.

9. Any Other Business

9.1. None noted.