How should a utility company prepare for OS NGD?

Preparing for the Ordnance Survey National Geographic Database (OS NGD) shouldn’t begin with simply replacing existing Ordnance Survey files. First, utilities need to understand where and how OS data is currently used, what depends on it, and where NGD could improve existing workflows.

A practical readiness review should cover six areas.

1. Identify your existing OS datasets
Establish which OS products are currently being used across the organisation. Look beyond the central GIS team: mapping may also support asset management, network planning, field operations, customer systems and other applications.

2. Understand what depends on them
Datasets can sit behind automated processes, spatial queries, styling, reports and integrations. Knowing that a team uses OS data isn’t enough; you need to understand how it uses it before changing the source.

3. Compare existing data with NGD
OS NGD offers more granular features and richer attribution than many established OS products. Rather than looking only for a like-for-like replacement, consider whether that additional information could improve network planning, asset management or risk analysis.

4. Review your data model and workflows
Existing processes may have been built around familiar product structures, feature classifications and attributes. Check whether schemas, queries, symbology or automated workflows will need to change when NGD-derived data is introduced.

5. Decide how you want to receive the data
NGD doesn’t have to mean another large dataset sitting on an internal server. Depending on the requirement, data can be delivered as files, APIs or managed web services. Different teams may benefit from different approaches.

6. Test before migrating
A controlled trial can reveal how NGD affects applications and workflows before wider implementation. It also gives users an opportunity to understand what additional information is available and where it adds value.

For utilities, preparing for OS NGD is therefore as much about use as migration. Idox Geospatial can help identify where existing OS data sits within your organisation, determine how OS NGD changes those requirements, and provide the data through the delivery method that best fits each workflow. Done properly, the move to OS NGD becomes an opportunity to improve how location data supports the network rather than simply replacing one OS product with another.

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