Web developers invited to mash up maps

Ordnance Survey has unveiled a free online platform aimed at encouraging web developers to tinker with the map specialist's geographic data.

OS OpenSpace offers web-savvy developers the ability to add markers, lines and polygons on top of maps, as well as search for place names and display other location data found elsewhere on the internet.

Ordnance Survey is initially making its JavaScript API available to a restricted group of developers for non-commercial experimentation ahead of a public launch early in the new year.

OS OpenSpace includes a range of mapping scales covering the whole of Great Britain down to street level, and features a community website to encourage collaboration between developers.

"Technology continues to expand the opportunities for benefiting from geographic information," said Vanessa Lawrence, Ordnance Survey's director general and chief executive.

"Our OS OpenSpace project is all about promoting innovation and allowing non-commercial experimentation with our mapping data."