Data services companies are stepping up pressure on the National Land Information Service to involve the private sector in the extension of its pilot electronic search system across the country.
NLIS has agreed to attend a meeting with key private sector players on 15 July, convened by the Association of Geographical Information.
The system, which is backed by Ordnance Survey, the Land Registry and local authorities, is currently being piloted in Bristol. Its success is crucial if the government is to meet its target of paperless conveyancing by 2010.
Some commercial information providers are worried that NLIS will compete with the private sector rather than work in partnership with the market.
Christopher Roper, a director of data company Landmark, has written to NLIS demanding confirmation that the national service “will not be subsidised to deliver information services that are already provided by the private sector.”
NLIS will now invite suggestions from the private sector on the development of the next phase of the service, to be aimed at surveyors and developers. A number of different relationships are being considered. “Some may take on part of the project, others may take franchises or the government could issue licenses”, a NLIS spokesman said. “We are not looking for exclusivity in any form.”
References: EGi News 5/7/99
