24-25 June 2026, Explorer House, Ordnance Survey HQ, Southampton
From ideas to impact: shaping Britain's future with open innovation.
The OS Innovation Festival returns for two days of hands-on collaboration and geospatial problem solving. Bringing together leaders from government, utilities, tech, national resilience, finance and the built environment, the festival is designed to accelerate solutions to real world challenges using the power of location data.
Participate in an innovation sprint, listen to inspiring talks, and network across sectors and help shape the future of Great Britain.
At the heart of the festival are our innovation sprints - intensive, multidisciplinary innovation workshops where we tackle challenge statements in specific market segments. Sprints bring together domain experts, data scientists, policy leads, consultants, and innovators to rapidly explore solutions and create actionable prototypes.
Choose the sprints you are interested in and register today.
Design a nationally consistent, authoritative freight dataset unifying road, rail, air and maritime networks. Standardise HGV restrictions, intermodal hubs and connectivity, governance and updates - enabling safer, more efficient planning and interoperability with routing and telematics platforms.
Unlock a new approach to property valuation driven by climate risk, resilience, retrofit potential and location intelligence. Explore how richer data can improve accuracy, reduce exposure to events like flooding or wildfires, and move the industry beyond bedrooms and postcodes.
Land is finite and the climate is changing - how do we futureproof the built environment? Explore a systems approach, connecting data on land, infrastructure, nature, climate risk and energy to accelerate resilient, net‑zero decisions across planning and built environment.
Explore how unified planning, utilities and environmental data can unlock a connected national infrastructure. This sprint focuses on overcoming fragmentation, strengthening cross‑sector governance, and shaping a platform built for adoption, interoperability and long‑term sustainability.
Explore how location data, linked to socio‑economic, health and infrastructure datasets, could power a National Vulnerability Index. Participants design a predictive intelligence layer feeding the National Common Operating Picture, enabling agencies to prioritise preparedness, investment and response before crises escalate at national scale securely.
Explore how underground asset data could support emergency services. Understand operational scenarios, access needs and value opportunities to inform future models of the National Underground Asset Register for safe, efficient, data‑enabled emergency planning and response.
Full agenda coming soon - check back for updates
09.15 - Breakfast networking
09.45 - Welcome
09.50 - Keynote
10.15 - Innovation sprints begin - morning session
10.45 - Morning coffee panel
11.45 - Lunch, networking and talks
13.45 - Innovation sprints - afternoon session
16.00 - Networking drinks
16.30 - Guest talk
Extraordinary stories from extraordinary map makers
Guest speakers share unexpected and personal stories about how maps have shaped decisions, careers, journeys and discoveries. Hosted by Paul Naylor.
Priya Lakhani OBE is Founder & CEO of CENTURY Tech, a global leader in AI-powered learning technology. A former barrister turned entrepreneur, she has advised UK government on AI, safety, and digital regulation, and is a member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology. A BBC presenter and award-winning innovator.
Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton has been a firefighter since she was eighteen years old. She is now a Deputy Assistant Commissioner and one of the most senior female firefighters in the UK. After leaving home at fifteen and school at sixteen, she joined the fire service in Wales. Taking audiences to the very heart of firefighting, Sabrina immerses us in this extraordinary world.
Jay Foreman & Mark Cooper-Jones are the comedy–geography duo behind the hugely popular YouTube series exploring the quirks of maps, borders and places. Ex-geography teacher Mark and one time musical comedian Jay Foreman, first met at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. They joined forces to turn their shared love of maps and geography into an entertaining YouTube series and bring their unique brand of comedy about geography to the Festival.
Will Millard is a best-selling writer, award-winning BBC presenter, and expedition leader whose work spans remote communities, natural history, and freshwater conservation. A BAFTA Cymru winner, he is a renowned storyteller and passionate advocate for healthier rivers and the people who depend on them.
