It would almost be too good to be true: The Nor­we­gi­an Kart­ver­ket (the map­ping aut­ho­ri­ty) has announ­ced that digi­tal maps will step­wi­se be made available to the public for free use. Maps from main­land Nor­way will make a start in Octo­ber 2013. Sval­bard is to fol­low in 2015.

Until now, the poli­cy regar­ding digi­tal Sval­bard maps was very rest­ric­ti­ve and has recei­ved strong cri­ti­zism. The­re is a digi-map for sale (“Sval­bard Topo-Explo­rer”) for more than 1000 NOK, but it is very inac­cu­ra­te for lar­ge parts of Sval­bard, and the purcha­se does not include any rights for use on the inter­net or in prin­ted publi­ca­ti­ons. So far, the copy­right for use in print is astro­no­mic­al­ly expen­si­ve; for this reason, we have so far unfort­u­na­te­ly not been able to use this map mate­ri­al in the gui­de­book Spits­ber­gen-Sval­bard. The­re is an online ver­si­on of the digi­tal Sval­bard map on the web­site of the Nor­we­gi­an Polar Insti­tu­te, which is very accu­ra­te, but it can­not be used off­line, for exam­p­le in GPS recei­vers in the field or for publi­ca­ti­ons. Now the­re is hope for a real impro­ve­ment from 2015.

Accor­ding to the Kart­ver­ket, this step is meant to increase crea­ti­vi­ty and busi­ness use. Reason to smi­le for publishers and gui­de­book aut­hors! 🙂

Source: Com­pu­ter­world