UK Location Strategy is published

A new strategy to tackle problems from traffic management to flooding, improved policy formulation and decision making by using better geographical information, was launched by Baroness Andrews today in a report Place Matters: The Location Strategy for the United Kingdom.

Full details, including a press release announcing the launch, on the Communities and Local Government website.

The Location Strategy sets out a Five-Point Action Plan for public services that will help them to:

• know what data we have and avoid duplicating it
  
• use common reference data so we know we are talking about same places
  
• share the data easily through common technology, standards and business relationships
  
• gain the appropriate skills to support its use
  
• drive strong governance to enable change which will be led by the Location Council which is being set up by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

I haven't had a chance to look at it yet but if you have then let me know what you think.

O'Reilly release Geospatial report

As spotted on The AnyGeo Blog , a 22-page report on the state of the GeoSpatial web is now available from O'Reilly.

Geo functionality is everywhere, and more geo data is being created and freely disseminated than ever before. This emerging technology space, growing in tandem with Web 2.0, has been called Where 2.0. In this report, Andrew Turner and Brady Forrest map out the new generation of geo products and services, identify the major players, and show how your business can leverage the power of Where 2.0.

The full report will set you back $399 (roughly £200) but you can download an excerpt for free.