Ordnance Survey (OS) release OS Open Zoomstack, a free, customisable digital mapping toolkit that gives developers the ability to create quick, easy 2D and 3D maps for use in apps and websites and offline pages. OS Open Zoomstack contains up-to-date and authoritative OS data for every building, road, and greenspace in Great Britain, and comes with four different cartographic styles – outdoor, roads, light and night – with further flexibility for greater customisation.
OS Open Zoomstack is a supported open data product. It is available in GeoPackage and as Vector Tiles (for both web and mobile). Its release comes after a three-month trial, which saw OS working closely with more than 1200 developers who helped shape the product ahead of its release.
OS Cartographic Design Consultant Charley Glynn said: “OS Open Zoomstack is part of OS’s journey to improve access to OS data, to reach new audiences and make our data easy for customers across all sectors to use. The learnings taken from this project are vital and will be incorporated into other projects as we move forward. During the trial, OS partner AddressCloud embedded OS Open Zoomstack in its risk analysis work in the financial sector. Open Canal Map used OS Open Zoomstack to enhance their open data canal map of Britain. The trial has shown how this tool can remould what organisations and individuals do when creating their own mapping, and we’re looking forward to seeing what people produce.”
Writing in a blog, Tom Chadwin, ICT Manager for Northumberland National Park, described OS Zoomstack as “… a game-changer for UK mapping.”
Visit the product for more info: https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/business-and-government/products/os-open-zoomstack.html
Benefits at a glance:
- Relevant data at all scales – from a GB overview to street level
- Tilt or pan to create a 3D effect of a map
- Consistent and improved cartographic styling
- Fully customisable mapping
- Supplied as a single file
- Updated twice yearly
- Use across multiple platforms including Mapbox, ESRI, Tableau, QGIS, MapInfo, Keplr.gl, Maputnik, Cadcorp and many more
- Easy to display third party data on the basemap
- Contains simple data schema and guides to get you started
What formats are available?
GeoPackage and Vector Tile releases of OS Open Zoomstack have been launched. OS will continue to trial the Vector Tile API as an alternative means of access.