Free Our Postcodes

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2009/10/free-our-postcodes/

VoteUK is no more.  In order to precisely show you where your electoral registration office was, I needed to take its postcode and covert it to latitude and longitude.  That's the service Ernest Marples provided.

A few days ago, the Post Office - in their infinite wisdom - set their legal dogs on those running Ernest Marples.

The Post Office charges for the file that they generated which converts post codes to location.  It can cost anywhere from £1,000 to £4,000 per year to get accurate data.  That's a price that I can't afford - neither can many non-profits, startups or innovators.

"I take the position that the postcode file and the data set of physical coordinates that go with it are a national asset that should be freely available to any UK citizen"  - Tom Watson MP

The Guardian has shown that there is more economic benefit to the UK by setting this data free.

So, what can be done about it?

• Sign the petition to the Prime Minister
• Write a blog post, send a tweet, and tell your friends what’s happening!
• Call, email or fax your MP

The Royal Mail is in its death-throes. It is vital that data created and supported by public money is returned to the public before it is sold off to the highest bidder... only to be sold back to us.

#data #freeOurData #linkedData #postCodes #postOffice #postcode #RoyalMail

#TechScape: Here’s four ways a new #Labour government could use #tech[nology] to boost #Britain

If #KeirStarmer wins on Thursday, he will have the power to #FreeOurData, jump-start the #NHS [#NHSEngland] and strip friction from our daily lives. Here’s how
https://www.theguardian.com/global/article/2024/jul/02/techscape-new-uk-government-data-nhs
#AfterTheElection #GE2024 #UK

You Can't Be Banned From The Houses of Parliament✱

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2016/04/you-cant-be-banned-from-the-houses-of-parliament%e2%9c%b1/

#FoI #freeourdata #parliament