OS expert isn’t Max Craglia either… so who is it?
You’ll recall the famous scene in the film Spartacus (directed of course by the same man who went on to direct 2001: A Space Odyssey) in which the Roman troops have captured the rebel slaves, and are trying to find out which of them is Spartacus, their leader.
At which one man stands up and says “I’m Spartacus!” And another, and another…
Well, the search for the identity of Ordnance Survey’s “internationally recognised expert” who looked over its calculations for its international comparison of mapping agency funding models is like that. Only in reverse. “I’m not Spartacus!” seems to be what people are saying.
In response to a suggestion in the comments that the person in question might be Dr Max Craglia, of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, a specialist in geographic information policies. So we sent off a quick email to him, asking if he was the one. (Don’t know who he is? main profile, another profile.)
“I regret I am not the expert you are looking for,” he responded, sounding more like Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars than Spartacus.
We’ve noted this in a roundup of what also happened at the Activate 09 summit, organised by the Guardian and part-sponsored by Ordnance Survey.
Among the other issues there were whether OS’s maps are fit for 21st-century digital economy purpose (Tom Watson MP, formerly of the Cabinet Office, thinks not) and also whether National Rail – the company owned by the train operating companies, rather than the nationalised success to Network Rail – should make its train running times available for free. Since it’s private-sector data, it doesn’t fall under the FOD campaign’s “government-owned or -generated non-personal data” umbrella.
Then again, the reaction on Twitter also suggests that with so many government billions being poured into the private rail sector, it would make sense to demand the data for free as a quid pro quo. It’s an argument that does have merits.
So in the meantime does anyone have any more (realistic) suggestions for who OS’s Spartacus is?
- The following posts may be related...(the database guesses):
- Well, that was quick: OS responds to FOI re international expert; mystery deepens (if that's possible) (31 July 2009; score: 48.05%)
- So what is Inspire, and why is the UK lobbying against it? (27 July 2006; score: 27.12%)
- Do ministers listen to advisory panels? The one on public sector information (PSI) isn't so sure (8 February 2007; score: 26.17%)
- International expert fun rumbles on (10 November 2009; score: 24.23%)
- ..but we're just as quick: more questions re the international man (or woman) of mystery (31 July 2009; score: 22.58%)
July 10th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
“So in the meantime does anyone have any more (realistic) suggestions for who OS’s Spartacus is?”
As every day passes without this question being answered, the probability that there was never an external consultant hired by the OS to advise on the merits of funding/data supply models, would seem to increase.
So i suggest it is time for another FOI request? For a list of all external consultants and advisors (paid or otherwise and including businesses as well as individuals) to the OS in the last 2 years and the subject areas they provided advice about.
July 10th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
The answer has been staring me in the face all the time. It’s the ‘international’ part of the title that put me off the scent… I was looking for a foreigner with connections to the UK geographic information scene. There are a few of them… but in reality, not many of them could be relied upon to see things reliably the OS’s way. They might go ‘off message’ away from the force field of UK government information policy.
So the international expert is of course a Brit… who is known internationally. Who is that person? It must be… Professor David Rhind, Chair of the Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information for the Office for Public Sector Information… and crucially, a former Director General of the OS. My old boss at City University… he is the man who really moved the OS from government department to postmodern über-agency. I reckon its him.
… and if it’s not him, I’ve got more names. Look, I’ve got to go… they be coming for me now, and I’ve got to
July 11th, 2009 at 1:48 am
They made it up.
July 14th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Jonathan Raper, my esteemed colleague and old friend, suggests I wrote the international comparison of mapping agency funding models for OS. I had no hand whatsoever in it – this would have been a clear conflict of interests with my role in APPSI. It would not however have been difficult to write since I can’t see in the report – through the redaction -anything that was not previously well known. As a consequence, many people could have written it. But to repeat, I had no hand in that report…