- From: Cresswell, Stephen <stephen.cresswell@tso.co.uk>
- Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2013 14:08:01 +0100
- To: <public-lod@w3.org>
Hello, In our application, we wish to publish linked data, including addresses with postcode URIs. The postcode URIs provided by Ordnance Survey for England, Wales and Scotland are really useful, with the postcode URIs dereferencing to provide useful information including co-ordinates. However, the geographical extent of our data includes Northern Ireland, which is outside the scope of (British) Ordnance Survey and not included in their dataset. The equivalent postcode data for Northern Ireland is available from the NI government body NISRA, but it is not on an open license. This leaves us with a question about what URIs to use for Northern Ireland postcodes, as we know of no existing URI scheme for Northern Ireland postcodes. If we generate postcode URIs using the same pattern as the rest of the UK, those URIs would be in the Ordnance Survey's domain, but NI postcodes are not actually in their dataset and they won't dereference, so that seems wrong. If we are to have dereferencable URIs, we would presumably have to host them in our own domain, which is definitely not the most appropriate place for them to be. If we buy a license to use the NI postcode data, we still wouldn't be able to republish it as linked data. Presumably, however, there is some geographical information that is open and could be published, e.g. courser geographical information based on just the postcode district. Does anyone have any advice on best practice, either for the specific problem (NI postcodes) or for the general problem of how to cope with URIs based on an existing coding scheme (e.g. postcodes), where the published URIs don't cover all of the original codes? Stephen Cresswell The Stationery Office This email is confidential and may also be privileged and/or proprietary to The Stationery Office Limited. It may be read, copied and used only by the intended recipient(s). Any unauthorised use of this email is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error please contact us immediately and delete it and any copies you have made. Thank you for your cooperation. The Stationery Office Limited is registered in England under Company No. 3049649 at 1-5 Poland Street, London, W1F 8PR
Received on Friday, 12 April 2013 13:08:29 UTC