The Improvement Service has worked with Orkney Islands Council to publish data about their marine infrastructure on the Spatial Hub.
The data includes commercial ports and marinas, ferry routes and safeguarded areas around the Flotta oil terminal, all of which will be of interest to the Scottish Government among others.
This is the first time that the IS has worked with an individual local authority to publish their bespoke data in a standardised form, allowing other organisations to find, access and use the information over the internet.
The Spatial Hub team is planning to now offer this service to all other councils, which will help them make their data more findable, accessible and usable while also meeting legislative data sharing requirements. This capability would usually cost councils thousands of pounds in technology and resources but is being offered for free to all local authorities.
This development could also help public bodies and other organisations to more easily access data relating to their specific functions, ultimately helping to improve public services and communities.
Daniel Morris, Marine Planner at Orkney Islands Council, said:
“Being able to offer our key marine datasets to all our citizens, marine stakeholders and businesses has been a great outcome for Orkney Islands Council. Utilising the expertise of Improvement Service to make this data accessible to all, without incurring costs, has been hugely beneficial.”