Open data
NGDC actively encourages the deposit of openly available data via the NGDC Digital Data Deposit Application. To encourage the deposit of borehole data, NGDC suggests some simple text that can be added to contracts with clients, drillers or consultants to request that data be deposited with open terms. Examples and suitable wording can be found under the data sharing agreements section.
Data is available as deposited under the terms of the Open Government Licence through the NGDC deposited data search and the GeoIndex.
Restricted data
Whilst NGDC prefers to hold open data with no access or use constraints, you can deposit restricted data for a limited embargo period giving justification on the ‘Data access’ section on the NGDC Digital Data Deposit Application. Following the embargo date, NGDC will aim to automatically release the data in accordance with Government open data policies. If you require a formal review as opposed to automatic release, please state and justify in the appropriate field. All requests for extended confidentiality will be assessed against the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) exception criteria.
Note that deposited data can be requested under Freedom of Information (FOI) and EIR, meaning NGDC cannot respect all restriction requests due to overriding legislation.
Ground investigation contract clause
The Government’s construction playbook mandates the insertion of a standalone clause in public works contracts where there will be the collection of subsurface data, to be shared with NGDC.
Existing data sharing agreements
NGDC is collaborating with a number of organisations to create contracts and briefing notes for consultants carrying out ground investigation work to deposit AGS (Association of Geotechnical Specialists) data via the NGDC Digital Data Deposit Application.
These include:
- Environment Agency agreement (pdf 236 KB)
- Network Rail agreement (pdf 138 KB)
- Welsh Government agreement (pdf 245 KB)
Data sharing contract suggested wording
You can use these examples of data sharing agreements to create new contracts. NGDC also suggests the following statements that can be added to contracts, to request that data is deposited with NGDC in AGS format.
Wording for clients
Subsurface data (including borehole construction information and any downhole geotechnical and laboratory test data) will be reported as a raw data text file, using AGS file format, in addition to any other reporting format (e.g. a PDF report). The AGS file, and data within the file, must be compliant with existing reporting standards for subsurface and geotechnical data, as outlined by AGS (Association of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists) http://www.ags.org.uk/
It is required that these data are submitted by [name of contractor] to the UK digital data portal (http://transfer.bgs.ac.uk/ingestion) of the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) of the British Geological Survey (BGS), to become part of the UK repository of subsurface data for re-access and longevity.
The data should be marked as open (not confidential). It is further understood that the ownership of the information will remain unchanged and recognised that the data may be used for secondary purposes to support research by NERC (BGS).
Wording for drillers or contractors
The NGDC also suggests that drillers and contractors include some wording in standard contracts to ensure data is deposited with the NGDC.
Please note that we donate AGS data to the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) at the British Geological Survey (BGS) to become part of the UK repository of subsurface data for re-access and longevity. If you do not want your data donated, or want the data to remain confidential (and only used for BGS science purposes) for an agreed period of time, please let us know.