The Land Survey hopes that its map data will help give rise to new businesses and services for the general public.
Behind the move is a government push for public institutions to make their files available for open use.
The director of the Land Survey's Information Service, Antti Kosonen, is hoping that the maps will benefit the development of new services.
"As of the start of May, there is no longer any charge for the rights to use these materials. They can be freely used and published, exploited in any way that anyone can think of and draw benefit from," Kosonen explains.
Land survey maps of the whole country's territory and all of its structures have been compiled from aerial photography, laser measurements and traditional surface surveying data.
IT sector hungry for data
For example, technology service company Logica has used the Land Survey's maps in various business services in the past. The company's director of sales and marketing, Heikki Tiihonen, says he would like to see more open use of data held by public officials.
"The more that these data bases can be linked, the greater are the opportunities to provide different beneficial services," says Tiihonen.
By combining data bases, Logica has created a route planning guide for various types of vehicles. It makes use of data from municipalities, the Land Survey and mass transit systems.
The Land Survey's internet service will allow for both private individuals and companies to download massive amounts of data.
"We have hundreds of terabytes of material that have to be formatted so that they can be distributed under open license, and once that is taken care of, then it will all be freely available for download," promises Antti Kosonen.
