In today’s Guardian Technology, Roadworks database is caught in a jam looks at the problems in putting together a database of where pipes and other near-ground objects are- which would be useful to utilities planning digs.

Is the roadblock secrecy? No. In the end it comes down to the problem of developing standards, and of organisations wrangling over intellectual property that they believe resides in knowing the location of those pipes. Put like that, does it make sense?

Even so, the problem of the NSAI (National Spatial Address Infrastructure) are key in causing the difficulties here.

The following posts may be related...(the database guesses):
• A spoke in the wheels of Land Registry transaction fees to pay for Ordnance Survey? (4 March 2010; score: 53.75%)
• Ed Parsons blogs his thoughts on the RSA debate (19 July 2006; score: 26.34%)
• OFT says more competition for public sector information would generate £1 billion extra annually (7 December 2006; score: 26.26%)
• Manitoba, home of the free (data) (17 August 2006; score: 23.95%)
• Ed Parsons, formerly of Ordnance Survey, now of Google (8 April 2007; score: 21.49%)