Background

Spatial NI is Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland’s web mapping platform.

It provides you with access to not only Ordnance Survey’s authoritative mapping data, but other authoritative geospatial information from multiple providers across the public and private sectors.

Spatial NI is designed to be a “one-stop-shop” for finding and using geospatial data relating to Northern Ireland.

Components of Spatial NI

The Spatial NI platform is made up of a number of components and each of these has been designed for a specific purpose. Find out more below:

Spatial NI Website

The Spatial NI website enables the public citizen to view and interrogate OSNI maps with other spatial data. It also contains a handy gallery of other mapping applications.

Visit Spatial NI Website

Spatial NI NIMA Portal

Access the Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) available to all recipients of the Northern Ireland Mapping Agreement (NIMA) - (Login is required).

Visit Spatial NI NIMA Portal

Spatial NI for INSPIRE

Spatial NI for INSPIRE provides a network of spatial data, accessible under the INSPIRE Directive, that can be used to promote and support environmental protection.

Visit Spatial NI for INSPIRE

History of Spatial NI

Spatial NI has been in existence for over 10 years and has continually evolved to meet the needs of all users. Follow our timeline below to see the major development milestones for the Spatial NI platform:

2007

Creation of Spatial NI

Spatial NI was created from the need to comply with the European Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE) Directive.

2014

Website Enhancement

Spatial NI was enhanced with the addition of a new public website incorporating a make-a-map function and a small gallery of featured story maps.

2015

Expanded Infrastructure

Spatial NI underwent an expansion in infrastructure with the introduction of additional servers to cope with the increased demand for web based mapping services.

2015

Spatial NI Strategy

A strategy was developed to steer the direction of Spatial NI from 2015 to 2020.

View a copy of the strategy here

2018

Spatial NI Redeveloped

Spatial NI has undergone a move to cloud based infrastructure and has been re-developed to improve performance and resilience. It has also been rebranded as a service from Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

Key Statistics

The Spatial NI platform is a large complex IT system that is widely used by the government and citizens of Northern Ireland. Check out some of our key statistics below:

Spatial NI has approximately 20000 unique visitors each month

Spatial NI services are embedded into 60 other government applications

Spatial NI provides technical support to over 30 customers per month

Spatial NI hosts 512 datasets available for environmental purposes under INSPIRE

Spatial NI makes available over 250 web mapping services to NIMA participants

Spatial NI serves 30 OSNI open data services to Open Data NI

About Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland

Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland (OSNI) is the official producer of high quality, accurate and current geographic mapping data for Northern Ireland.

Public and private sector customers rely on our products and services to support their business needs and those of their end users.

Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland (OSNI) is part of Land & Property Services (LPS) within the Department of Finance.

LPS collects, processes and manages land and property information in support of economic and social development in Northern Ireland.