Clare Hadley
Policy and Engagement Manager
Ordnance Survey
United Kingdom

Biography
Clare Hadley is a GI Professional with 30 years’ experience in a variety of fields including public sector and partner relations, public affairs, data policy, licensing, consultancy and international affairs with Ordnance Survey. She has also worked on data policy with the Australian government, and with AGI Cymru on ‘Location Wales’. In recent years she has been active in trying to achieve better data sharing by chairing the INSPIRE Data and Service Sharing Drafting Team.

Abstract
Policy-Making - Is the 'Where?' There?

The question of 'Where?' should lie at the heart of effective policy development and delivery. Information about location provides valuable context to data, and helps link disparate sources of information. As a result it can support successful policy formulation and evaluation, helps deliver policies which are more effective and efficient, and contributes to strong governance. This is true whether the policy is being developed and delivered at an international, European, national or local level. As policy-makers move towards using 'big data' and more sophisticated analytical techniques location information has the potential to become even more important. Despite this, the benefits of geospatial information are not always widely appreciated by policy-makers and as a result the use of geospatial information in the policy-making process remains variable at best and non-existent at worst. The presentation will discuss how geographic information can be used to support the development, delivery and governance of policy. It will consider some of the barriers that may be preventing wider use of geospatial information in the policy process, and how these may be overcome. We will draw on examples including work carried out by a partnership between Ordnance Survey and Welsh Government, as well as our experience of working with policy makers in international, European, national, regional and intergovernmental organisations. In conclusion we will consider what else we can do to ensure that the 'Where?' is there in policy-making.