Ordnance Survey's Tim Chilton on reaching targets through increasing data accessibility and their new 'Slopey Roofs' tool

How can government develop secure digital solutions, whilst increasing data accessibility, to successfully reach departmental targets?     

We spoke to Tim Chilton, UK Consulting Lead, Ordnance Survey (OS) about their new 'Slopey Roofs' initiative which combines OS and Met Office data to assess the efficiency of roofs for solar panel installation.

This is one of a number of open datasets that the OS have launched on Snowflake Marketplace which makes it easier for users to access datasets. Snowflake and OS have developed Slopey Roofs as a demonstrator. 

It involves an app which combines mapping and weather data including sun position and roof angle to evaluate the suitability of solar panel installation, based on location. Data is securely shared across the public and private sectors, whilst advancing the green energy transition. 

Which of the government’s key missions do you think this capability supports, and have you got any interesting use cases you can speak about relating to this?

For Chilton, "two stand out." The first is the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) target to meet net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The second is the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) mission to build 1.5 million new homes during this parliament.  

He says: "for DESNZ they need to understand the energy efficiency of buildings and the potential for energy saving enhancements. Slopey Roofs is a big step in the right direction for providing some of the foundational data to do that. For MHCLG and their 1.5m homes target, the data supports an understanding of current housing volume, type and condition to help assess feasibility for redevelopment or improvement."

Other authorities can also benefit from this data utilisation and sharing, Chilton emphasises. "Local authorities can also use the data to validate housing stock records, support council tax assessments, and inform planning decisions—particularly in conservation areas or where solar panel permissions may vary.

Additionally, utility companies could benefit from this data to better understand energy capacity requirements for new housing developments, especially where solar panels are integrated into building design. Insurance companies are another potential user group, using roof and building data to assess risk, validate claims, and price policies more accurately for customers." Chilton highlights the value for both the public and private sectors in using tools like Slopey Roofs "to make data-driven decisions."

More broadly, in what ways does Slopey Roofs demonstrate how geospatial insight can directly improve public services or citizen outcomes?

"The new metadata on building roof details that Slopey Roofs uses enhances an already powerful dataset that supports a wide range of central and local government use cases across strategy, planning and environment," says Chilton. "The extra detail will allow local authorities for example to assess the potential of its housing stock to support energy efficient measures, reducing costs and carbon emissions."

The tool also enables "more accurate modelling when combined with other datasets, such as Met Office weather data, to estimate solar energy potential at the building level. This can support local authorities and energy planners in identifying viable locations for solar panel installation. For public sector sites like schools and hospitals, the data can help identify which buildings within a site are most suitable for investment in net zero technologies."

OS operates within a partner-first model. Is this a collaboration you believe will enrich your partners, and if so, how?

For Chilton, the key to the OS approach is "we don’t want to just put data out into the world. We want people to use it and have developed tools and partnerships to help grow the use of our data."

By integrating OS data with Snowflake’s platform, partners can access and analyse data more efficiently, reducing the time and barriers to insights. Which in turn will hopefully help to unlock new opportunities for innovation by bringing the data to life through maps and other forms of visualisations, far beyond traditional spreadsheets and databases."

Have you introduced the AI feature of the Slopey Roofs tool? To what extent did this alter the kind of users of the tool and the uptake? If not, what are your predictions?

As Slopey Roofs is a demonstrator, rather than a live product, users' reactions are pending. However Chilton notes that "the reaction to the AI feature at our recent OS Innovation Day was positive in that it demonstrated how structured data can be accurately summarised and described by AI without affecting the accuracy of the insights. It provides a new way to interact with geospatial insights for those who may be less comfortable interpreting charts, maps and tables."

For Chilton, this has particular value in opening up access to geospatial insights for public servants who are non-technical specialists, "helping to bridge the gap between data science and policy or operational teams."

What demand from other departments or local authorities is there to access or build on this capability? Were there any users that surprised you?

"DESNZ expressed an interest in the demonstrator, particularly given their strategy around low carbon energy generation and heating," says Chilton. "Slopey Roofs hasn’t yet been widely publicised across government at this point so it is difficult to tell what level of interest there could be at this stage."

He adds, however "we’ve also seen interest from sectors like insurance and utilities, which was somewhat unexpected. These sectors see the value in the data for risk assessment, fraud detection, and infrastructure planning. Local authorities are also interested in using the data to validate housing stock records and support planning decisions."

Accessibility seems to be a key draw of partnering with Snowflake. Can you speak to that further?

Accessibility is "a key focus in our collaboration with Snowflake, particularly in streamlining the integration of OS data with customers’ business data to accelerate the delivery of valuable insights. If a customer is a Snowflake user, then they are one click away from accessing our data for their use cases, which is quicker than current methods. Snowflake also allows users to work directly with data using familiar tools, making it easier for organisations to embed geospatial insights into their workflows without needing specialist GIS software."

What early lessons from this initiative could be applied more broadly to how government builds tools in partnership with platforms like Snowflake?

"One key lesson is the importance of co-developing demonstrators with real-world use cases in mind, which helps to quickly show value and drive adoption," highlights Chilton. 

He underscores that "Snowflake is more than a platform, it provides full support for new data providers in terms of technical training, lead generation, marketing and so on. It [Snowflake] understands platforms and their potential. We know our data best. Combining our expertise into one team has proven to be not only collaborative but also highly effective."

Are you exploring long-term sustainability of the tool? For example, could it evolve into a national service or be embedded in planning policy tools?

"Potentially," says Chilton. They are currently halfway through a one year trial and will decide what to do next in consultation with their partners. He emphasises that the team are "hopeful this is the beginning of a new way to interact with OS products in the longer term."

Chilton expands on the wider picture, adding that "Slopey Roofs is part of a broader roadmap to support net zero, including projects like Heat Zones with DESNZ, which model energy generation and demand across buildings. The OS NGD building dataset is increasingly central to these efforts, especially when combined with data from Land Registry and other sources. For the public sector, the data can help prioritise investment in solar and other technologies based on roof suitability and economic viability." 

Overall, Chilton emphasised the value of accessible data for effective public service delivery, to deliver on wider sustainable transformation and to facilitate joined-up government. Securely sharing data across the public and private sector is paramount and when successfully achieved this collaboration can achieve great results.