Get your mapping think cap on

Charities and other voluntary organisations are to get the chance to use Ordnance Survey maps in web applications for non-commercial purposes. Technology Guardian reports:

Ordnance Survey’s OpenSpace product is a “slippy map” interface, a piece of software that allows users to place any kind of information with a geographic reference over a map displayed on the web. Maps available through the service range from the 1:1m outline of Great Britain, up to street level (1:10,000). “It provides you with all the necessary functionality to interact with a map such as panning, zooming and adding markers and polygons,” the agency says. Users will need no special knowledge of geographic information system software.

It is currently at ‘closed alpha test’ stage but should open up early 2008. OS OpenSpace.