Exchange of location point
Updated 9 August 2022
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Use the and standards for consistent exchange of location point information in government.
1. Summary of the standards鈥� use for government
These standards are coordinate reference systems (CRS) that provide a way of defining and exchanging accurate 3-dimensional and 2-dimensional global location points.
is a global CRS which enables the easy transfer of location point information with other countries. It is used in cartography, geodesy and navigation by GPS.
is a European CRS widely used to reference location points. The code for this standard in the is EPSG::4258. This registry contains implementing the standard.
By using the exchange of location point standards, the UK is keeping its commitment to implementing the .
The government chooses standards using the open standards approval process and the Open Standards Board has final approval. Read more about the .
2. How these standards meet user needs
By using these standards, geographic location data is always clear and accurate. It is important to use the same standard coordinate mechanism to keep the location information the same across multiple applications.
These standards help you to:
- improve interoperability between systems
- reuse geographic data for multiple services
- improve the consistency of your location data
3. How to use these standards
To use these standards you must:
- define which CRS you鈥檙e using when publishing data
- use for worldwide geographic location points
- use for Europe
You can also combine these standards and/or add other CRS to meet your organisation鈥檚 requirements, for example, when you need greater accuracy for precision engineering decisions.
You must make sure these standards are interoperable with your IT network or system by:
- setting up your applications that use location data sets to refer to WGS84
- making sure your data sets covering European locations comply with INSPIRE by using ETRS89