Ordnance Survey APIs
iStandUK met with Tim Newman from the Ordnance Survey last week to discuss how their API(s) can be used as a part of applying digital techniques to local public services.
The OS Places API(s) are described at https://developer.ordnancesurvey.co.uk, providing access to address and location data.
Pricing is a combination of transaction costs and using existing agreements such as the PSMA.
We were joined by Paul Makay from the Local Digital Campaign’s Waste Management API project. One of the APIs being developed to support a ‘missed bin’ query, requires that a UPRN is first looked up from an Address. The OS Places API is one way of achieving that. This is a good example where APIs from different sources could be used in combination.
Tim from Ordnance Survey agreed to do a brief paper to explain how the OS Places API could be used in this type of scenario – we’ll publish that when we have it.