OS Mastermap vs OS NGD: What is OS NGD?

OS NGD is more than a new name for OS MasterMap. Ordnance Survey is moving several familiar OS MasterMap and other premium datasets towards products derived from the OS National Geographic Database (OS NGD). For utilities, that means established datasets and workflows will increasingly need to adapt to a new generation of OS data.

OS NGD organises detailed geographic information into interconnected themes covering buildings, land, transport, water, addresses and administrative areas, with richer attribution and more frequent updates – and several familiar products are affected by the transition.

For example, OS MasterMap Highways Network and OS MasterMap Water Network are being succeeded by NGD-derived transport and water products. Other established OS products are also moving towards NGD alternatives as Ordnance Survey develops its next generation portfolio. So for utilities that are already making good use of OS data, the first step is to establish what you currently have and where it is being used.

This matters, because OS datasets may sit behind much more than a visible map. They can support asset-management systems, network analysis, routing, customer information, field applications, automated processes and integrations with other business systems. But the bigger question is, whether you actually need a like-for-like replacement. NGD provides more granular features and richer attribution, creating opportunities to improve existing analysis rather than simply reproduce it with a newer dataset.

Utilities should therefore review:

• Which legacy OS products they currently use.

• Which applications and workflows depend on them.

• How NGD schemas and attribution differ.

• Whether existing queries, styling and integrations need changing.

• Whether files remain the best delivery method.

• Where NGD’s additional detail could support better network or asset decisions.

Idox Geospatial can help utilities understand which existing OS datasets are affected, identify the appropriate OS NGD-derived alternatives and assess the impact on existing systems and workflows. That turns the transition into something more useful than a mandatory data change: an opportunity to decide whether newer OS mapping information can support the network better than the products it replaces.

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