UK local government data is providing a model for
European framework standards.
Local government-backed address and street datasets, the
National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) and the National
Street Gazetteer (NSG), have been accepted as reference data models
under the INSPIRE directive.
With no common standards for spatial data across Europe, INSPIRE
seeks to lay down rules for interoperability and harmonisation.
It will establish a framework for co-ordinating the use and
implementation of such data for the purposes of
community environmental policies.
The established standards will enable users to identify and
access spatial or geographical information from a wide range of
sources, for applications including:
• Location and exploitation of natural resources - minerals,
soils, vegetation, landscape
• Viewing and analysis of networks - transport, water, energy
and telecoms
• Location and distribution of people, businesses, assets, new
developments, services and other built infrastructure
• Co-ordination of responses to emergencies, natural and man
made disasters - floods, epidemics and terrorism
The NLPG was one of two data specifications accepted from across
Europe to go forward to the Addresses and Technical Working Group.
It was selected because it is built on BS7666, the UK
implementation of ISO 19112. The NLPG was singled out for its
implementation of the standard at local level, enabling aggregation
of data at a national and trans-national level (England-Welsh).
The Addresses and Technical Working Group aims to create a
Europe-wide data standard for any new address datasets.
From 2009 any new address datasets across Europe will have to
accommodate the agreed data structure and any existing datasets by
2016.
The NSG is one of ten data specifications that have been
recommended for transport networks, included for its adherence to
ISO 19112, its current use for highway maintenance and utility
street works and its multi-lingual capabilities (English and
Welsh).