The power of geography

Abstract

At the end of the tumultuous eighteenth century the British government ordered its Board of Ordnance, the defence ministry of its day, to survey the country's south coast. Today Ordnance Survey (OS) is a self-financing £100-million-a-year civilian organisation, still part of UK government but since 1999 having 'Trading Fund' status. Its workforce of around 1,500 people includes three hundred surveyors. How is OS coping with today's technological challenges and social needs? What are the product trends, and what opportunities are offered by INSPIRE? Vanessa Lawrence, at the OS helm since September 2000, kindly answered these and other questions.