An Open Source Linked Data Framework for Publishing Environmental Data under the UK Location Strategy Arif Shaon 1 , Andrew Woolf 2 , Shirley Crompton 1 , Robert Boczek 1 , Will Rogers 1 , Mike Jackson 3 1 e-Science Centre, The Science And Technology Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, OX11 0QX, UK {arif.shaon, shirley.crompton, will.rogers, robert.boczek}@stfc.ac.uk 2 The Bureau of Meteorology, Canberra, Australia A.Woolf@bom.gov.au 3 The Software Sustainability Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK michaelj@epcc.ed.ac.uk Abstract. Linked data offers a novel and more flexible means of sharing complex geospatial datasets by breaking away from the traditional domain- specific technologies used for accessing and integrating geospatial data with heterogeneous sources and disparate formats. In 2010, the UK Cabinet Office released a set of draft guidelines for exposing geospatial data as linked-data in support of the UK Open Data initiative. These draft guidelines have been proposed under the UK Location Strategy in specific recognition of the importance of geospatial data, and also with a view to promote linked-data within the EU INSPIRE community. This paper presents a customisable open- source linked-data framework developed by the GeoTOD-II project that implements these guidelines. The framework provides an efficient means for exposing both existing and new data sources in the linked-data form. We also attempt to articulate and address a number of issues and hidden assumptions with these guidelines identified during the development of the framework. Keywords: linked-data, geospatial data, INSPIRE, DEFRA, GeoTOD 1 Introduction and Motivation The UK government’s “data transparency agenda” aims to make public sector data freely accessible on the web as linked-data. This was greatly inspired by Tim Berners- Lee’s invitation in 2009 [1] to publish government data online in light of the emergence of the Linked Open Data movement. While the primary goal of this initiative is to increase accountability associated key public sector datasets, it will, more importantly, enable harmonisation of heterogeneous datasets in a standardised manner by creating a “web of data”, thus supplementing the knowledge base of individuals as well as society. For geospatial information in particular, the linked-data approach offers the potential for developing more flexible means of data sharing and accessibility. In