Ordnance Survey announces new OS Open Zoomstack

The Zoomstack API is an easier and more accessible way of using OS data in an interactive map and has been designed with start-ups and SMEs in mind to help with building mobile and web applications.

The OS data within it can be transferred as a single 2GB data file, meaning it can be used off-line or out in the field.

OS Cartographic Design Consultant Charley Glynn said: “Zoomstack is a new product we’ve developed, a vector-based map which ranges from a national overview right down to street level detail.

“It contains data from Lands End to John O’Groats and everything in between. We are supplying it as a single file so it is going to be really easy to get going. We are also supplying cartographic style sheets, to help people get started quickly. It is going to enable people to use it in a GIS, in web mapping, on mobile devices and to also take Ordnance Survey data offline.

“Zoomstack is going to make our data more accessible and more usable to a wider range of users - especially those start-ups and SMEs that we want to build mobile and web applications using Ordnance Survey data.”

OS Open Zoomstack will be available in the following formats:

• GeoPackage
• PostGIS Export File
• Vector Tiles (based on Mapbox open specification)
• Vector Tile API

Charley said: “We’ve designed Zoomstack to be used in different ways. For our traditional GIS desktop users we’ve got data formats they will be able to use. Equally we are introducing vector tiles, which make it a lot easier for new technologies if you are developing web and mobile applications. The data file itself is only 2GBs, which means we are able to take this data offline.

“We are seeing more and more requirements from our customers, people who want to use their data on a mobile device out in the field, so this will enable them to do that.”

The three-month trial is a chance for users to play around with the product and feedback to OS on their experiences of it.

Charley added: “We want people to download the data, use the API, play around with that, experiment with it, prototype with it if possible.

“We’d love people to share with us what it is they have done with it, and most importantly we want to hear their feedback. How has Zoomstack helped improve their job or their application?

“We are then going to use that information and feedback to inform the future developments of this product and equally inform other products Ordnance Survey is working on.”

The trial follows the announcement by the Geospatial Commission to open OS MasterMap. The aim is to use the trial as a way of improving access to OS data and helping users to utilise OS data in different ways.