Dr Richard Waite: 'astonished' at charging plans

The head of the British arm of an international geographic information company urged the national mapping urgency to think again over plans to start charging schools for data.

Richard Waite, managing director of ESRI UK told a gathering of the Geographic Association proposed changes would risk schools giving up on the use of digital maps, just as Ordnance Survey had moved to offering some of its data free.

But OS countered that it had not yet made a decision on supporting schools’ use of geographic data, and that it was looking at new ways of using technology to supply its data.

Dr Waite, whose company develops and supplies geography software for schools and colleges and is part of an American-based geographic information system business, yesterday pleaded with his audience to lobby Ordnance Survey to rethink its changes.

Dr Waite told the gathering at the Geographic Association: “Under the Ordnance Survey MapPilot trial, local authority-funded schools have free access to a range of Ordnance Survey datasets.

“This trial will close from 14 May and be replaced by a scheme to be run by Edina, under which schools will each be charged £50 a year for this data access. Last week, the Prime Minister announced that a number of Ordnance Survey datasets will now be made available free of charge, for any use, by anybody.

“On behalf of all schools, I am astonished that the Ordnance Survey is intending to start charging schools for its datasets. How can the Ordnance Survey now be making some datasets available for free to all, whilst at the same time introducing a charge to schools for data sets that were previously free?”

Edina is the Edinburgh University data library and supplies information for higher and further education in the UK.

The ESRI boss continued: “I fear that many schools will simply give up on geographic information and the use of digital maps or choose not to engage with it, if this charge is imposed. But this is precisely the time when we should be encouraging such a take-up, as stated by the Prime Minister when he announced the release of Ordnance Survey data sets for free last week.”

However, Ordnance Survey said the changes it was making were in response to alterations to schools’ status and governance. A spokesperson for the Southampton-based national mapping agency said: “Ordnance Survey is reviewing the future delivery of data to schools in the light of the changing status and governance of many schools with the increase of academies and so on.

“This review has involved the community of suppliers of GI systems and mapping technology for schools and is ongoing.

“There is no central funding available to support Ordnance Survey’s services to schools and in recent years our input has been funded from our own revenues, including free maps for 11-year-olds which has been running since 2002.

“We are looking at new ways to supply data using the latest technologies, and have been taking part in trialling new methods, but have not as yet made a final decision on the future delivery of data to schools.”

OS faces raised costs and a cut to its revenue with its recent move, following a Department for Communities and Local Government consultation, to freeing certain data and its borrowing limit was doubled by the Government from £40m to £80m.

OS, which is run as a Government trading fund, made £17m profit last year on a turnover of £117m.

However, walkers, mountain bikers and other outdoor enthusiasts were disappointed by the decision to remove Explorer and Landranger mapping from the planned free data and replace it next month with maps which do not detail footpaths and rights of way.