Guest post by Dan Hughes, Sector Manager of Land & Property at Ordnance Survey

Over the last 10 years the use of digital location-based information has changed significantly, from being used by only a small number of organisations to becoming an essential business decision-making tool. This increased reliance on, and recognition of, digital mapping data has also resulted in customers demanding the most up-to-date information available.

Ordnance Survey makes up to 10 000 changes to the master map database of Great Britain every day, reflecting the rapid developments in the nation’s environment. However, it is not only important for organisations to have the most up-to-date data, but also vital that they have the appropriate licence to effectively use it. The use of older, unlicensed data not, only has legal and cost implications, but also risks damaging professional reputations, which may have taken many years to build.

It is important to ensure that you are using the very latest licensed data, which means you can rely on it to be accurate and consistent, but more importantly that your company’s reputation is secure.

The use of properly-licensed data can also represent significant time and cost savings. Thames Valley Housing estimates that investing in the very latest data is enabling the housing provider to save £200 000 in grounds maintenance costs each year, without impacting on its quality of service – a total saving of £2 million over a typical 10 year maintenance contract.

We are running a campaign at the moment to encourage land and property professionals such as surveyors, conveyancers and developers to ensure they are licensed and up-to-date. It’s supported by RICS, Land Data and leading industry figures and features a series of videos which explain why it’s important.

Professionals who have any doubts about whether their location data license is up-to-date should contact their data supplier or Ordnance Survey directly for guidance.