CoastGIS’99: geomatics and coastal environment
The EC itself faces the problem of getting access to pan-European data
sets, in order to manage and monitor European policies. More and more,
regional policies apply at a cross border level; they need an increasing
amount of data which is coherent at European level.
In response, the Commission created GISCO, in EUROSTAT, a service aimed
at supporting the other services working for different European policies
mentioned above. GISCO strongly supports the concept of a European
policy for geographic information, in which EGII plays an important
part.
All national authorities recognize the need for European co-ordination
above each national initiative. The National Mapping Agencies have
created two associations (CERCO/MEGRIN) to co-ordinate their action.
Umbrella organization for GI (EUROGI) and the association of GI laboratories in Europe (AGILE) have been created to activate the European level.
An overall need for Europe’s future policy
The Kosovo war dramatically highlighted the need for action at a European level to keep control of information. Timely, accurate and relevant
information is the key element of competitiveness, for all sectors of
our society. The information infrastructure is the foundation for this
competitiveness.
The transport policy
The European policy for transport follows some objectives that information infrastructure will strongly support:
- the Trans-European Network aims at creating an efficient pan-European transport infrastructure. The design of such an infrastructure
requires thorough knowledge of the needs and the parameters necessary for any decision. Most of the required information is spatially referenced. A European transport infrastructure has a huge impact on society and mobility, but also on the environment. Territorial information
is the basis for assessing this impact;
- multimodal transport: the main problem faced by the EC is the difficulty in accessing information. The information infrastructure is the
foundation for any transport system decision support and monitoring;
- the Commission launched the Galileo programme to develop the
European navigation and positioning system: GNSS. Without European
and global reference systems and an information infrastructure, it will
be less efficient. There is a strong need to keep the links between the
European space policy (Earth Observation, GNSS and telecom) and EGII.
Common Agriculture Policy (CAP)
Pressure to optimise the CAP is growing ever sharper with the enlargement of Europe. The EC is starting to control statements and analyse
the policy impact on society, economy and environment more carefully.
All these analyses require the EGII. Joint use of earth observation and GI
technologies has provided a powerful contribution to these objectives.
46
The EC itself faces the problem of getting access to pan-European data
sets, in order to manage and monitor European policies. More and more,
regional policies apply at a cross border level; they need an increasing
amount of data which is coherent at European level.
In response, the Commission created GISCO, in EUROSTAT, a service aimed
at supporting the other services working for different European policies
mentioned above. GISCO strongly supports the concept of a European
policy for geographic information, in which EGII plays an important
part.
All national authorities recognize the need for European co-ordination
above each national initiative. The National Mapping Agencies have
created two associations (CERCO/MEGRIN) to co-ordinate their action.
Umbrella organization for GI (EUROGI) and the association of GI laboratories in Europe (AGILE) have been created to activate the European level.
An overall need for Europe’s future policy
The Kosovo war dramatically highlighted the need for action at a European level to keep control of information. Timely, accurate and relevant
information is the key element of competitiveness, for all sectors of
our society. The information infrastructure is the foundation for this
competitiveness.
The transport policy
The European policy for transport follows some objectives that information infrastructure will strongly support:
- the Trans-European Network aims at creating an efficient pan-European transport infrastructure. The design of such an infrastructure
requires thorough knowledge of the needs and the parameters necessary for any decision. Most of the required information is spatially referenced. A European transport infrastructure has a huge impact on society and mobility, but also on the environment. Territorial information
is the basis for assessing this impact;
- multimodal transport: the main problem faced by the EC is the difficulty in accessing information. The information infrastructure is the
foundation for any transport system decision support and monitoring;
- the Commission launched the Galileo programme to develop the
European navigation and positioning system: GNSS. Without European
and global reference systems and an information infrastructure, it will
be less efficient. There is a strong need to keep the links between the
European space policy (Earth Observation, GNSS and telecom) and EGII.
Common Agriculture Policy (CAP)
Pressure to optimise the CAP is growing ever sharper with the enlargement of Europe. The EC is starting to control statements and analyse
the policy impact on society, economy and environment more carefully.
All these analyses require the EGII. Joint use of earth observation and GI
technologies has provided a powerful contribution to these objectives.
46