+-----------------------+

| February 2007 Edition |

+-----------------------+

General:

1. The OPSI Report

2. Guidelines for BS 7666: 2006
3. NLPG Underpins Award Winning West Sussex Accessible Services
Partnership
4. Top 10 drivers for Intranet Usage
5. CORE Report
6. OGC to Disengage Directly from Local Government
7. Pan Government Agreement 2
8. LGA Policy Position on proposed UK GI Strategy
9. MapInfo Acquires GDC
10. Michael Nicholson Elected Chair of the Locus Association
11. Havering Job Vacancy
12. Luton Borough Council - GIS Job Opportunities
13. Jobs at West Lindsey

NLPG:

1. Improving the NLPG: Transition to NLPG:2006

2. Software Supplier Accreditation Process
3. Intelligent Addressing FTP Server Upgrade
4. Best Practice Guidelines
5. Record number of LLPG updates in January
6. IA Further Automates Data Processing Procedures
7. Meetings/Regional Seminars

NSG:

1. February LSG Updates

2. Statutory Undertakers
3. NSG Meetings

-----[articles]-----

[General]
**1. The OPSI Report**
The situation relating to the wider licensing of the NLPG and
NSG remains a matter
of

intense debate. In the coming months we anticipate a response

from the DTI to the
OFT
 report and other interventions.

Following Intelligent Addressing’s Complaint (April 2006) to

the Office of Public
Sector

Information (OPSI), OPSI’s evaluation of their remaining two

recommendations to
OS should

be published soon. We have also separately asked OPSI to

clarify how their

recommendations relate to the findings they published in their

response to our Complaint.

Last July, Intelligent Addressing also appealed some parts of

the OPSI report to
the

Advisory Panel for Public Sector Information (APPSI) and it is

possible that APPSI
may

publish their own recommendations in the next few weeks.

Various other announcements,

such as the DTI response to the OFT CUPI Market Study, may have
a bearing on

negotiations.

**2. Guidelines for BS 7666: 2006**

The first set of Guidelines for BS 7666: 2006 Spatial datasets
for geographical
referencing

have been published. They can be obtained from the [1]AGI. The

Guidelines complement the Standard (copies of which may be

purchased from AGI),
with more

detailed explanation of the content and a general approach to

creation of gazetteers.
They

are not specific to any particular implementation, for which it

is expected that
a data

specification and capture and maintenance rules will be

produced.

The Guidelines are aimed at:

gazetteer owners – those with ultimate responsibility for the

gazetteer;
gazetteer custodians – those responsible for the creation,
maintenance and quality
of

gazetteers;
suppliers of gazetteer software;
those developing and implementing gazetteer systems
providers of gazetteer data;
others who are responsible for aspects of the quality management
of gazetteers.

The Guidelines are currently in four Sections:

Section 1. Introduction to BS 7666;

Section 2. How to create a gazetteer of a new type of geographic
object;
Section 3. Quality assessment and reporting;
Section 4. How to create a national gazetteer.

These may be downloaded separately or as a whole. Further

Sections will be added
later,

covering specific implementation issues.

[1] http://www.agi.org.uk/bfora/systems/xmlviewer/default.asp?
arg=DS_AGI_TRAINART_72/_page

.xsl/92&xsl_arg=//BF%5FAGI%5FTRAIN%5FT%5FSTD/&xsl_argx=4

**3. NLPG Underpins Award Winning West Sussex Accessible Services

Partnership**
The West Sussex Accessible Services Partnership (WSASP), which
uses the National
Land and

Property Gazetteer (NLPG) to underpin its innovative Customer

Relationship Management
(CRM)

system, recently won the 2006 Team Award for e-Government

excellence. The CRM system
enables
 service access across West Sussex regardless of the caller’s
location with 95%
of enquiries

addressed at the first point of contact. [1]See full story.

[1] http://www.nlpg.org.uk/documents/feb07/West Sussex Accessible

Services.pdf

**4. Top 10 drivers for Intranet Usage**

A recent report from Socitm has revealed the top ten
applications for generating
the high

usage of local authority intranets that is critical to their

role in supporting
local

government transformation and efficiency.

Among them are HR applications such as absence recording, flexi-

time management,
expense

claims, and job vacancies; Geographical information systems;

committee information;
contact

information; leader and senior management briefings; and

bulletin boards including

classifieds, discussion, lost and found, and events.

Better connected intranets — emerging good practice in driving

efficiency is

available from the [1]Socitm website .

[1]
http://www.socitm.gov.uk/socitm/Library/Better+connected+intranets
.htm

**5. CORE Report**

The Department for Constitutional Affairs has published a
[1]Report

(on February 8th 2007) summarising the responses received to the

consultation 'The
 Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors - The implementation of
national access

arrangements'. It outlines the conclusions that have been

reached on the consultation

questions, and how the consultation process has influenced the

final shape of the
policy.

[1] http://www.info4local.gov.uk/documents/publications/87985

**6. OGC to Disengage Directly from Local Government**

In a measure unveiled by John Oughton, chief executive of the
Office of Government
Computing

(OGC) - the government procurement department, is to be greatly

slimmed down from
410 staff

to 250, but it is also going to be given more power to force

government departments
to take

its advice.

OGC will now focus solely on central government, excluding the

NHS and the Ministry
of

Defence. Its involvement with improving local government

procurement will cease
with

responsibility picked up by regional centres of excellence.

**7. Pan Government Agreement 2**

As all lots could not be awarded under the last procurement, the
PGA Steering Group
and

Communities and Local Government has agreed to continue to

manage the PGA on behalf
of

members and will explore the running another procurement. A

Prior Information Notice
was
 published on 25 January 2007 to inform the market of this
intention.

A market sounding is also being undertaken to collect views from

potential suppliers
and GI

industry bodies. The aim is to issue Contract Notices in April

2007 and commence
contracts

in April 2008 for 11 different geographic data lots. The

current PGA is due to
expire on 31

March 2007 and CLG are considering where further extensions are
necessary to ensure
that

members continue to have access to data while the procurement is

run.

**8. LGA Policy Position on proposed UK GI Strategy**

The Local Government Association has published a policy
statement on the proposed
UK GI

strategy. The policy sets out the outcomes and actions that
local government seeks
from a

UK GI strategy. It has been formed by colleagues in local

government ranging from
those

working in an operational capacity through to top management,

together with input
from IDeA.

The policy paper can be downloaded from the

[1]LGAR website -

www.lgar.local.gov.uk.

[1] http://www.lgar.local.gov.uk

**9. MapInfo Acquires GDC**

MapInfo has acquired privately-held Graphical Data Capture,
Ltd., (GDC), the London-based
 location intelligence provider and partner of MapInfo for the
past 17 years.

The GDC has over three decades of experience in the UK Public

Sector with approximately
80

per cent of it's revenues coming from local government customers

based in the UK;
the

remaining 20 per cent is generated from a broad range of

customers including the
utilities,

financial services and insurance industries.

**10. Michael Nicholson Elected Chair of the Locus Association**

Michael Nicholson, the Managing Director of Intelligent
Addressing, has been elected
as the

new chair of the Locus Association. The Association was

established in 2005 to represent
the

interests of private sector companies engaging with Public

Sector Information (PSI)
holders.

Michael replaces Richard Pawlyn, who stepped down as chair after

a very successful
year

during which the Association considerably advanced the debate on

the status of Public
Sector

Information.

**11. Havering Job Vacancy**

The London Borough of Havering is advertising for a GIS/LLPG
Officer who will be
responsible

for the management and maintenance of the Local Land and

Property Gazetteer. Working
 in a

small team, you will also be expected to develop projects to

integrate the LLPG
with other

systems as well as providing support for the Council’s

corporate GIS.

The closing date for applications is Friday 2nd March 2007. For
full details and
application

forms, please visit www.havering.gov.uk.

**12. Luton Borough Council - GIS Job Opportunities**

Luton Borough Council has two vacancies:

[1]Corporate Geospatial Information Manager, to

develop and promote the council wide strategy for GIS, LLPG
(BS7666) and the Register
of

individual and Groups (BS8766) and manage the Geospatial and

LLPG/RIG team.

[2]Geospatial Technician, to assist the GIS

Officer with ongoing development and maintenance of the

corporate database.

The closing date for both positions is 9th March 2007. For full
details and application

forms, please visit the links above or

[3]http://www.luton.gov.uk/internet/jobs_and_careers.

[1]
https://secure.luton.gov.uk/tlive_webrecruitment/webrecruitment.ur
d/TRC003GW.open?V

ACANCY_ID=94500401To
[2]
https://secure.luton.gov.uk/tlive_webrecruitment/webrecruitment.ur
d/TRC003GW.open?V

ACANCY_ID=35386301hp
[3] http://www.luton.gov.uk/internet/jobs_and_careers

**13. Jobs at West Lindsey**

 West Lindsey District Council is currently advertising two
vacancies for 6 month

fixed-term appointments for the position of Temporary Local Land

and Property Gazetteer

Assistants. The posts are required to cleanse the Council’s

LLPG, working with
MapInfo

Gazetteer Management System and MapInfo Professional. For

further details please
visit [1]Job

Vacancies at the Council’s website.

Closing date is Monday 5 March 2007.

[1] http://www.west-lindsey.gov.uk/jobdetails.asp?jobID=5387

[NLPG]
**1. Improving the NLPG: Transition to NLPG:2006**
The transition to NLPG:2006 is well underway at Intelligent
Addressing and thanks
are due

to the very large majority of LLPG Custodians and SNN Officers

who took the time
to

attend one of the recent workshops. We have also discussed the

implications of
DTF 7.3

in recent meetings with both Local Custodians and LLPG software

suppliers and greatly

appreciate the feedback you have provided. We have tried to

incorporate your input
into

the new DTF 7.3 Version 2, which will be available for release
at the beginning
of March.

In addition to the ongoing LLPG software accreditation process

for DTF 7.3, the
 NLPG Hub

has also been upgraded in preparation for receiving LLPG

submissions in DTF 7.3.
The

synchronisation process will be managed by the NLPG:2006

transition team and, starting
in

March, this team will work with Local Authorities and software
suppliers to schedule

their LLPG upgrades to the new DTF 7.3 format.

Lastly, consultations have begun for the DTF 7.4 XML transfer
schema and specification.

The proposed schema will be made available for review and

comments on the NLPG website

once Version 2 of DTF 7.3 is released. The goal of the XML 7.4
schema is to encapsulate

all the data richness from DTF 7.3 into a fit-for-purpose

transfer format that utilises

XML to best advantage.

Overall, the targets for NLPG:2006 remain the same -- all LLPGs
upgraded to 7.3
and all

NLPG update submissions to be made to the NLPG Hub in DTF 7.3

(or 7.4) by 01 October

2007.

**2. Software Supplier Accreditation Process**

As described above all software suppliers are being put through
an accreditation
process
 for DTF 7.3. There are four stages to complete to reach full
accreditation. These

stages are:

Import a full LLPG extract containing a number of errors and

return an error file

accounting for all errors.

Import a full LLPG file and then process an NLPG change only
update file that

contains a number of errors. Return the error file accounting

for all errors.
Import a full LLPG file and then make manual changes to the data
within the

software. Export the NLPG change only update file and updated
full LLPG file.
All

changes need to be accounted for and the exported full LLPG file
needs to contain
the

correct data.
Import a full LLPG file and then process an NLPG change only
update file. Return

the updated full LLPG file with all changes accounted for and
containing the correct

data.

A status list of software suppliers and Local Authorities,

indicating their current

progress through the accreditation process, is available on the

NLPG website [1]www.nlpg.org.uk.

[1] http://www.nlpg.org.uk

**3. Intelligent Addressing FTP Server Upgrade**

As part of on-going security procedures, we have removed old
files and changed all
the
 passwords used to log onto the Intelligent Addressing FTP
server.

From Monday 19th February, files more than 3 months old were
automatically removed
and

will continue to be so on a monthly basis.

On the NLPG FTP site each authority has been assigned its own
home area. Contained

within this area are 2 directories – "in" and "out". In order
to send

files to IA you should place them in the "in" directory. Any

files supplied to you

will be placed in the "out" directory.

**4. Best Practice Guidelines**

When sending change only update (COUs) files to hub please
adhere to the following

guidelines:

Please use either email or FTP consistently.

Please name files in the correct format – LAid_CCYYMMDD_01.csv
Files should be csv or txt and only one copy of the file should
be sent in.
You can only place files in the "in" folder. If your files will
not transfer

successfully check that you are not in the "out" folder or the
root.
Please zip Full Exports before sending them.

See below for updated terms and conditions for use of the
Intelligent Addressing
FTP

services.

If you have any questions regarding this, please contact the

Helpdesk on 020 7747
3502.
 Guidelines for Use of Intelligent Addressing (IA) FTP Services:

FTP services are provided as a means of transferring files to

and from IA, and should

not be used for any other purpose.

Data on the ftp server are not backed up and will be regularly
removed. Please ensure

you download all the data you need regularly.

FTP accounts not used for more than a year may be disabled.
Your username and password are for your official use only. You
must not divulge
your

password to any unauthorised persons. If you suspect that your

password may have
been

compromised, you must inform IA immediately so a new password

can be allocated.
You must not use IA FTP services to store or transfer any files
containing

potentially offensive, defamatory, illegal or copyrighted

information.
Please make reasonable efforts to ensure no files containing
viruses or other malware

are transferred to the IA FTP server. IA scans all files going

onto the server.

**5. Record number of LLPG updates in January**

IA received a record number of 1556 change only update
submissions (COUs) in January

2007. Thus the trend of increase in the number of submitted

updates continues.

**6. IA Further Automates Data Processing Procedures**

IA has implemented an automatic job management and tracking
mechanism which links

incoming jobs to the date and time of job creation and logs a
record in the Business
 Management System (BMS). The mechanism then tracks jobs through
the processing chain
and

generates automatic email notifications to Authorities on

completion of the job.
Thus

tens of hundreds of COUs to NLPG Hub are automatically logged

and tracked every
month.

**7. Meetings/Regional Seminars**

South West Region Meeting - March 5th 2007
North West Region Meeting - Marth 13th 2007
South East Region Meeting - March 23rd 2007
Regional Chairs LLPG Custodian Meeting - March 27th 2007

[NSG]
**1. February LSG Updates**
All 172 LSG extracts have been received by the hub. Publication
date is March 14th
2007.

**2. Statutory Undertakers**

After attending a number of HAUC meetings it has become apparent
to the NSG Custodian

that there are still many Statutory Undertakers (Utilities) not

registered with
the NSG

Website and not taking regular downloads of the updated data.

If any authorities are aware of utilities that are not

registered or are not taking

downloads regularly please forward the details on to the NSG

Custodian.

Regional Chair Positions Vacant

Regional Chair positions have become vacant in London, North

East, South East, South
West
 and West Midlands. If you are interested in taking up a post
please contact [1]msa@idea.gov.uk.

[1] mailto:msa@idea.gov.uk

**3. NSG Meetings**

A member of Intelligent Addressing will be at the following
events:

South West Custodians Meeting - Monday 5 March 2007, Taunton

Deane
Yorkshire and Humberside Custodians Meeting – Monday 19th
March 2007, Hull
London HAUC – Tuesday 27th March 2007, London, Olympia

The next LSG Custodians Regional Chairs Meeting is due to be

held on 19th April
2007, if

any authorities wish to have items on the agenda at this meeting

please raise them

through your regional representative or the [1]NSG

Custodian as soon as possible.

[1] mailto:nickt@thensg.org.uk