Written question asked by Greg Hands (Conservative) on Wednesday, 19 July 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 24 July 2006. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour) on Tuesday, 25 July 2006 on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Ordnance Survey

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made with Ordnance Survey's Digital National Framework; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: The Digital National Framework (DNF) is an industry standard for integrating and sharing business and geographic information from multiple sources. It is supported by Ordnance Survey and a number of other organisations. DNF is directed and overseen by an Expert Group which has over 40 members from the public and private sectors and academia. The Group has produced a ““road map”” to achieve its aims and is actively working on most elements of this. All progress is reported on the DNF website at www.dnf.org. The majority of recent effort has been directed at creating a framework for unique identifiers.

Secondary information