Corporate report

Minutes of the Fifteenth meeting of the geospatial commission board of commissioners, 25 May 2021

Published 24 August 2021

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Minutes of the Fifteenth meeting of the geospatial commission board of commissioners, 25 May 2021

Tele-conference

Commissioners

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

Commission Unit

Catherine Carter-McGrath, Jamie Clark, Joe Cuddeford, Ros Goodfellow, Amelia Napier, Heath Pritchard, Catherine Young, Kieran Millard (Minutes by: Liz Conn)

Observers

Albert King (Scotland), Glyn Jones (Wales) and Jim Lennon (Northern Ireland), Sir Bernard Silverman, Peter Sparkes (UKHO) (for items 5 & 6).

External Speaker

Jenny Brooker, Chief Data Architect, Maritime & Coastguard Agency

Apologies

Steve Blair

1. Minutes and Matters Arising

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

1.2. The board wished farewell to Kate Barker, as this was her last meeting as a Commissioner, thanking her for her insight and expert contribution, particularly on the housing and land use agenda.

1.3 The board welcomed Sir Bernard Silverman, the new chair of the Geospatial Commission from 1st June 2021, as an observer. Bernard introduced himself, outlining his view of the achievements of the Commission to date and looking forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead.

1.4 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 20th May. The Partner Bodies (PBs) had welcomed the opportunity to input into the Commission’s Annual Plan. They  were also supportive of the development of the Q-FAIR assessment reports, appreciating that they will be shared with the PBs for agreement ahead of publication.

2.2. The latest update on the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) was well received. On the National Land Data programme, the Partner Bodies are keen to make sure that work is well integrated with other government departments such as BEIS and DEFRA.

2.3. The PBs urged the Commission to continue to draw on the PB’s collective expertise and capability to ensure that delivery is feasible, impactful and sustainable.

2.4. Thalia confirmed that the Commission seeks to work collaboratively with the Partner Bodies where possible, amplifying their work when aligned with the UK Geospatial Strategy and in particular the geospatial data improvement agenda. Thalia will meet with the CEOs of the Partner Bodies in June to discuss this further.

3. Report from the Director of the Commission

3.1. Thalia provided an overview of progress across the Geospatial Commission since the March board meeting, including production of the Annual Plan (see item 4 below) and a tender for a national supplier for NUAR.

3.2. The Commission is also running the newly launched location data ethics project to understand public attitudes about location data, with the oversight group, chaired by John Pullinger, currently considering the scope of the project. The Geospatial Commission is committed to publishing guidance in Summer 2022 and will sight the board on this when appropriate. A discussion was held around potential similarities between this work and Benchmark Initiative’s Locus Charter and the importance of progressing beyond creating principles and into more specific and practical outputs.

4. Update on Geospatial Commission’s Annual Plan

4.1.  Amelia Napier gave an overview of work on the Geospatial Commission’s Annual Plan (AP) 2021/22, welcoming comments on the Commission’s plans for next steps and publication.

i) Annual Plan Update

4.2. The Annual Plan has been created in collaboration with the Partner Bodies, Devolved Administrations, other government departments and a Ministerial Steering Group to give an overview of Geospatial Commission progress to date and future deliverables. Drafts have also been shared with the board, resulting in the refined document brought to the board today.

4.3. Comments from the PBs helped develop lines on the QFAIR principles, and Ministerial review has ensured that delivering against the Commission’s key missions was prioritised and highlighted.

4.4. The board discussed how the use of location data in the Covid response has elevated the topic of location data into the public consciousness in a positive way and the board encouraged the Commission to use this unique opportunity to publicise the work of the Geospatial Commission and the importance of location data over the next year. The Commission should seek to link its work to key public concerns such as the economy, recovery and levelling up to draw public attention to the benefits of location data.

ii) NUAR Build Phase Update

4.6. Heath Pritchard joined the meeting to give an update on progress made on the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) programme since the last board update in September. Feasibility work has now been completed with plans underway to start work on the production platform, which is an exciting time for the Geospatial Commission.

4.7. The tender to select a delivery partner was launched on 7 May and will close in early June. The project team is aiming to have selected a preferred supplier by the end of June and it is hoped that the build phase of work will commence in September 2021. The plan is to deliver a minimum viable product for the North East of England, Wales and London first, then to enhance the product while rolling it out across the remaining regions in England and Northern Ireland. The team is committed to creating a NUAR that is fit for purpose and compliant with government and industry standards.

4.8. The build phase of NUAR will involve four workstreams: (1) onboarding and engagement, (2) data transformation and ingestion, (3) development and user experience and (4) future models. The complexities of workstreams 1 and 2 were discussed as they will involve implementing a new legal framework for data sharing across approximately 650 organisations as well as repeatable and sustainable transformation processes.

4.9. The board congratulated the team for reaching this significant milestone and reiterated the importance of the onboarding workstream, particularly in mitigating issues on data sharing.

iii) National Land Data Bid Update

4.10. Joe Cuddeford joined the meeting, giving an update on progress against the Geospatial Commission’s commitment in its strategy to support delivery of  land use data pilots.

4.11. Making coherent decisions about land use is difficult and disparate data does not support joined up land use decisions. To reconcile competing demands (e.g. achieving net zero, protecting habitats and building affordable housing) and make the best use of our land, decision makers at national and local level need access to better data about land use.

4.12. The Commission has been working with key stakeholders to identify a targeted approach, including pilots, to improve the findability and accessibility of land use data by Autumn 2022 and was recently successful in securing support from HM Treasury’s (HMT) Shared Outcomes Fund to pilot a National Land Data Programme.

4.13. The programme will test the feasibility and value of an authoritative data platform as the single source for coherent data about land use in the UK. If scaled nationally, such a platform could enable joined up policy making and support the transition to low carbon uses of land while achieving other national priorities including housing development and improved biodiversity.

4.14. HMT is preparing to make a Ministerial announcement about this ambitious project in due course, but the Commission is setting up the programme now. The Commission will need to develop strong partnerships at very senior levels to make this a success and would welcome opportunities for the Partner Bodies to be involved.

4.15. The board agreed that the need for better data in this area is crucially important and that delivering this programme could be transformative.

4.16. Jim Lennon added that there is at present an opportunity for the civil service in Northern Ireland to get unique identifiers mandated, meaning that other parts of the NI government, like DAERA, will be able to link their data to this new land cover pilot.

4.17. The board congratulated the Commission on its successful bid and offered their support to this important programme.

5. UK Marine Geospatial Mapping: Current Approach and Future Options

5.1. Rear Admiral Peter Sparkes, CEO of UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO), joined the meeting. The board congratulated him on his permanent appointment as Chief Executive.

5.2. Peter gave an overview of the work of UKHO, which is mainly self funded, with 90% of its income derived from commercial sales. 1% of its funding comes from the UK government to drive its work supporting the UK’s National Security Strategy. Peter highlighted the economic significance of the maritime geosphere. UKHO has recently written a Corporate Plan, which has been approved by the Secretary of State.

5.3. With over 300 sources, UKHO has a challenge to reconcile the disparate nature of the data from its main data suppliers. It is therefore seeking to establish a more centralised UK seabed mapping capability, specifically for the UKHO to act as a focal point and single repository for the collation of marine data. The UKHO is asking the Geospatial Commission to support its work in bringing together the relevant data in a coherent way.

5.4. Thalia confirmed that the Geospatial Commission has a duty through its governance, framework and charter to make sure geospatial plans from Partner Bodies align with the UK Geospatial Strategy.

5.5. The board discussed the proposal. They understand and are supportive of the philosophical aims of the project, in particular the strategic opportunity for the UK in increasing its marine data capability. It was agreed that taking a firmer view and formally endorsing the specific proposal was not possible at this early stage. However, the board was keen that, should the ambitions of the proposal align with and be relevant for the delivery of the UK’s strategic geospatial aims, then the Geospatial Commission would discuss further with the UKHO what role it could play.

5.6. Peter confirmed that development of the proposal would be  iterative, starting with an assessment and discoverability phase, and that the UKHO team would engage with the Geospatial Commission Unit through the development process. The board asked to remain informed as the options around delivering a solution are developed.

6. External Speaker: Jenny Brooker, Chief Data Architect, Maritime & Coastguard Agency

6.1. Jenny Brooker joined the meeting and presented on the work of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) which brought to life marine data and its many uses. The MCA is on a data journey, looking at improving data sharing to inform a range of agendas from safety of navigation at sea, to environmental issues, fishing and improving operations within the shipping industry. They are currently working on the Open Marine Data project with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to improve access to marine incident data.

7. Any Other Business

7.1. None noted.