Strategic Direction

What is NGDF?

The National Geospatial Data Framework (NGDF) is the name given to the UK geospatial data infrastructure. Its aim is to facilitate the unlocking of geospatial information (GI) through enabling better awareness of data availability, improving access to the data and integrating data by encouraging the use of standards.

NDGF will not create a physical framework or deliver datasets, services or products, but its use will help facilitate value added services by enabling the combination of data from multiple sources.

What are the Key Drivers?

There are 4 key drivers behind the NGDF initiative:

• Knowledge about what information exists

  Many data providers do not advertise the fact that they hold GI, often because they have no distribution mechanisms in place and data supply would cause disruption from current activities with little perceived benefits. This results in poor knowledge about what exists within the UK and, even when GI is advertised, the metadata for it is often of variable quality.

• Access to information

  Many data providers do not provide access to their GI because they do not see a market for the information. Even those data providers who do see a market and are keen to promote their information, do not use the most effective methods of data provision.

• Integration of information

  GI is of variable and often unknown quality, based on a variety of different direct and indirect geospatial referencing systems. This results in serious problems when information from different sources are integrated. It is only through easier integration of these different sources of information that many queries relating to geospatial information can be resolved.

• Widespread use of information

  GI is currently not used to its full potential in UK, this results in widespread duplication of effort and makeshift solutions to answer everyday problems.

How can NGDF Help?

NGDF's Mission is to:
"enable the unlocking and improvement of geospatial information for the benefit of the citizen, business growth and good government"

We have 5 strategic objectives:

• To improve knowledge about what geospatial information currently exists and encourage easier access to it;
• To enable easier integration of geospatial information through the use of standards;
• To enable more widespread use of geospatial information;
• To provide users with assurance that the information is consistent and of defined quality;
• To provide advice to government on geospatial information.

Who's Making it Happen?

A diverse range of organisations and individuals are involved in making NGDF happen including, government, private organisations and academics. Those involved span the whole GI community from data providers and system suppliers right through to end users.

By involving the whole GI community we can maintain an altruistic stance to the benefit of all.

What will NGDF Deliver?

High level key deliverables include:

• A fully linked metadata service providing information about data available;
• A framework of recommended core datasets which can be used as hooks to link in other datasets;
• A framework of NGDF supported standards which, when used, will enable data integration;
• Standards services to provide users with practical advice about understanding and applying standards to their data;
• Accreditation services to provide assurance that metadata and its related data are conforming to the NGDF supported standards.

This will all be supported by promotion of existing NGDF related applications highlighting the real benefits of NGDF.

The work will be broken into two phases:

• Phase 1 (present - 2001) will concentrate on laying the foundations and setting up preliminary services;
• Phase 2 (2001 and beyond) will concentrate on refining the services and encouraging wide participation.

How will NGDF help you ?

NGDF will provide significant benefits to the existing and potential GI community through:

• Greater awareness of data availability and improved access to it;
• Expanding and liberalising the market for geospatial information;
• Improving the quality of data such that new integrated datasets can be created by combining data from two or more sources;
• Less duplication of effort and more practical solutions to answer everyday questions.

For further details about NGDF's Strategic Direction, see the Strategic Plan.