We know for example that the US provided TIGER data to OpenStreetMap (OSM) and that Canada has also released a lot of data to OSM. We know that OSM is very active in Canada and the USA. We also know that the US and Canadian agencies have released data to many other parties who are using it. Could we produce a table for each of their example countries to show what is happening with the data and how this compares with the UK?

It is worth remembering that many UK organisations that would like to free data about their activities can’t because of OS licensing issues. Sustrans can’t release their national cycle route data for this reason. Many other UK organisations such as the Woodland Trust, National Trust etc are probably in the same situation where they would like to provide data but aren’t able to cos of OS data within their data. We notice that in the FAQ for the ‘World Database on Protected Areas’ there is a question “Why are there no protected areas for the United Kingdom in the WDPA?”. The answer is “Due to publishing restrictions on the UK protected areas data we are currently unable to include these sites in the WDPA. UNEP-WCMC are working with data partners and UK agencies to resolve this issue”. Sounds like the OS to me.
http://www.wdpa.org/faq.aspx

Canada by way of contrast has been able to publish its ‘Canadian Protected Areas’ without charge. I wonder what innovative use has been made of this data?
http://geogratis.gc.ca/geogratis/en/index.html

I notice that Canada has also approved the release of all its road data to OpenStreetMap in Dec08:-
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/GeoBase_Import

This OSM wiki page gives in incomplete list of many datasets that have been imported already into OSM categorised by county:-
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Import/Catalogue

And this one highlights many datasources that the project would like to import arranged by county:-
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Potential_Datasources

Incidentally the Department for Transport in the UK was only able to release the UK database of the positions of 360,000 bus stops, train stations etc to OSM earlier this year because the data had been created independently from the OS (at a cost) and thereby avoided their derived data issues.
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/NaPTAN

Finally, I am involved in Ideas in Transit, a 5-year UK government funded research project that looks for information based bottom-up innovation in the transport sector (in which the OS is also a partner). There are lots of good projects there, many of which rely on free-to-use data. Are any of these relevant to the question raised in 7.2? Feel free to add projects of details to the wiki.
http://www.ideasintransit.org/wiki/Ideas_in_Transit

We regularly update images showing the intensity of user involvement in OSM around the world including in North America. This image shows some recent bulk imports of data in the various states in the USA and Canada as well as the general high levels of edits in many areas.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterito/3087316306/in/pool-itomedia

If OS data underpins £100 billion of Britain’s GDP there is sufficient to make the data free or free..er!