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SpatialNews Press Release
Ordnance Survey and Leica Geosystems launch GPS partnership
Signing on the line for historic agreement
Ordnance Survey and Leica Geosystems have signed a partnership agreement which will
revolutionise map making using state of the art Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment.
The multimillion pound contract - one of the most significant ever won by Leica Geosystems - will
allow all surveyors of Ordnance Survey to use GPS to update maps on the spot.
The high-tech equipment locks on to signals from a network of 24 orbiting satellites and pinpoints
precisely where a surveyor is at any specific point. The technique greatly reduces the need for tape
measures and electronic distance measuring equipment, allowing for true one-person surveying.
“The agreement means we can improve efficiency and accuracy, increase the speed at which we can
update our database, and produce enhanced data for all our customers,” says Vanessa Lawrence,
Ordnance Survey’s Director General and Chief Executive.
“Our data is so vital to both the public and private sectors that a recent independent study calculated
that around £100 billion worth of economic activity in Britain is dependent on it. It is essential that
our information is of the highest quality and as a foundation for this we need use the most accurate
techniques available. GPS equipment and computerised mapping techniques allow us to do this,”
she adds.
Ordnance Survey has used GPS equipment since 1987 and during the 1990s established the
National GPS Network for Great Britain. This has now been developed and all data, including
extensive background information, is available on Ordnance Survey’s National GPS web site at
www.gps.gov.uk.
Until now, the use of GPS within Ordnance Survey has focused on the supply of control points for
mapping. But it is now committed to using GPS for the survey of map detail and has initiated
several projects to introduce GPS into the map revision process.
Initial testing of the equipment has been successful in nine offices within four trial areas -
Droitwich, Harlow, Rotherham and Perth. And following the agreement, the project is due to roll
out to all of Ordnance Survey’s 66 field offices, from Inverness to Truro, from the summer of 2001.
Hans Hess, Chief Executive of Leica Geosystems, says: “This collaboration confirms our ability to
provide not just the best equipment, but also the ability to provide the best solutions. From the
outset, Leica understood that merely providing the equipment was not enough. The need to respect
and understand the goals of Ordnance Survey was the critical factor in our success with this, the
largest contract of its kind.
“We have moved away from a purely customer supplier relationship and now have a partnership.
Leica has even opened an office within Ordnance Survey, with dedicated support staff.”
The official partnership agreement was signed by Vanessa Lawrence and Hans Hess at the historic
Royal Observatory, Greenwich, a perfect venue to bring together a history of astronomy with the
latest space satellite technology. The Observatory is also the home of the 0° Greenwich Meridian,
where the basis of all modern navigation and positioning was first calculated.
The decision to partner Leica Geosystems follows a rigorous assessment procedure, including the
extensive testing of equipment by Ordnance Survey along with fact-finding visits to various
production sites in Great Britain, Europe and the United States.
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