i took a bit of a hiatus from this page to work on numerous other things, such as dreamsyntax.org itself! but i’ve been keeping up with map news around the world still. there have been a number of exciting developments lately for map data sharing:
UK: Ordnance Survey Maps to go FREE in April 2010
now i love Ordnance Survey maps, so i’ve been following the Free Our Data debate for a while now, so i’m really excited for what this means for the UK. according to the report by Guardian, by april 2010, Ordnance Survey maps at a scale of 1:10,000 will be made free to all. the report also says “the government has been inspired by the success of crime mapping where “data openness” is helping citizens assess the safety of geographical areas,” which i think is terribly sensible.
Singapore: Singapore LTA and Google Maps collaborate on route planning site
one can scarcely expect Singapore to be EVER as open about map data as the UK or US, but in other news, Google Maps Singapore managed to secure a collaboration with LTA, creating what will apparently be the most advanced route planning for various forms of land transport modes in Singapore, replete with transit and even traffic information. its also on Google Maps for Mobile so motorists and commuters can access this data.
i personally still prefer the interface of gothere.sg (as the traffic information may not be as crucial to me since i only commute on public transport) since its incredibly intelligent for bus information, and its beaten Google Maps to having Street View (although Google has already announced that Singapore will be the first country in Southeast Asia to get StreetView – asia cnet also reports seeing the Google Trike in Singapore). but i guess i’m always excited to see new geospatial services being developed…