5 ms·

Some of that government data existed in the form of physical maps, and the data was difficult to access because it had never been digitized, even government-int

Some of that government data existed in the form of physical maps, and the data was difficult to access because it had never been digitized, even government-internally. No one was prevented from digitizing it themselves, and in fact a lot of early OSM data came from enthusiasts digitizing old US Army maps because, indeed, they were public domain. Then you have cases like the Ordnance Survey in the UK where apparently a lot of the data is neither freely available to the general public, nor paid for by the general public.

malandrew 6y ago
> a lot of early OSM data came from enthusiasts digitizing old US Army maps because, indeed, they were public domain But that's the rub, we the taxpayers have paid for all the map creation, even the new high resolution ones with far greater accuracy, yet we're stuck with these older, lower resolution and likely out-of-date maps. Even the new maps should be public domain.
- mc32 6y ago
  ?? Some countries don’t have the resources for high precision maps. They have old maps from whenever they were commissioned.
- paxswill 6y ago
  If you're referring to maps produced by the US government, they are in the public domain. Early on it sounds like there wasn't an easy way to transfer "raw" map data around (hence the tracing), but it's pretty easy now to access official maps in full resolution: * US Geological Survey: https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/ngp/tnm-delivery https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/ngp/tnm-delivery * National Park Service: https://mapservices.nps.gov/arcgis/rest/services https://mapservices.nps.gov/arcgis/rest/services * US Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/maps https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/maps (the API access is further down that page). Those linked above typically available through a standard API (Tile Map Service), as well as ESRI's moderately well documented REST API for accessing shapefiles and features. My one complaint about this data is how the USFS manages their data. In that case it seems each service region defines how data should be made available, so you have a pile of different methods for accessing things like road/trail features, or points of interest (in many cases, it comes down to "fetch this pile of ZIP files").
alwayshumans 6y ago
The OS are making a lot more data freely available as part of the Geospatial commission push to make geospatial data more widely available to drive innovation. I wouldn't be surprised if this is all a slow response to external activities like OSM and Google
- MrMorden 6y ago
  I remember reading that when all OS data cost money half of their income came from other government departments, so once you add dealing with all that licensing there's not much extra cost to just fund it out of general revenue.
- tobylane 6y ago
  It’s also in response to the urban planning difficulty of knowing who owns what or what’s under this spot.

malandrew 6y ago

> a lot of early OSM data came from enthusiasts digitizing old US Army maps because, indeed, they were public domain But that's the rub, we the taxpayers have paid for all the map creation, even the new high resolution ones with far greater accuracy, yet we're stuck with these older, lower resolution and likely out-of-date maps. Even the new maps should be public domain.

mc32 6y ago
?? Some countries don’t have the resources for high precision maps. They have old maps from whenever they were commissioned.
paxswill 6y ago
If you're referring to maps produced by the US government, they are in the public domain. Early on it sounds like there wasn't an easy way to transfer "raw" map data around (hence the tracing), but it's pretty easy now to access official maps in full resolution: * US Geological Survey: https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/ngp/tnm-delivery https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/ngp/tnm-delivery * National Park Service: https://mapservices.nps.gov/arcgis/rest/services https://mapservices.nps.gov/arcgis/rest/services * US Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/maps https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/maps (the API access is further down that page). Those linked above typically available through a standard API (Tile Map Service), as well as ESRI's moderately well documented REST API for accessing shapefiles and features. My one complaint about this data is how the USFS manages their data. In that case it seems each service region defines how data should be made available, so you have a pile of different methods for accessing things like road/trail features, or points of interest (in many cases, it comes down to "fetch this pile of ZIP files").

alwayshumans 6y ago

The OS are making a lot more data freely available as part of the Geospatial commission push to make geospatial data more widely available to drive innovation. I wouldn't be surprised if this is all a slow response to external activities like OSM and Google

MrMorden 6y ago
I remember reading that when all OS data cost money half of their income came from other government departments, so once you add dealing with all that licensing there's not much extra cost to just fund it out of general revenue.
tobylane 6y ago
It’s also in response to the urban planning difficulty of knowing who owns what or what’s under this spot.