WRITTEN ON July 28th, 2005 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Online Maps, Save Time and Money, What do we want?

Just as Giles Lane and Bill Thompson raise the question of accessible licences for Ordnance Survey data, I see from KableNet that the OFT is to investigate public information

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has launched a market study into public sector information holders (PSIHs)

It announced on 28 July 2005 that it would look at whether the way in which PSIHs supply information works well for business. It will examine whether they have an unfair advantage selling on information in competition with companies who are reliant on the PSIH for the raw data they use.

Many public bodies have a statutory obligation to collect information or do so as part of carrying out their functions. Often they may be the only body collecting and storing such information.

While some of the information is made freely available, some is sold to commercial providers of information products. They develop their own markets by refining – adding value – to the raw data. Also, some PSIHs compete with private companies in selling value added information.

Examples of PSIHs include HM Land Registry, which holds a property database with access to 20m registered properties in England and Wales, and the UK Hydrographic Office, which holds navigational products and related information.

It was estimated that in 2003-04 the turnover of the larger PSIHs was in the region of £1bn. The total value of public sector information in the UK economy is much higher as the information is often reused as inputs for other companies’ products.