CoastGIS’99: geomatics and coastal environment
Semantics is also an important and difficult issue. Europe has to manage
its multilingual and multicultural characteristics. Interoperable lexicons
should address that topic.
Basic services
The basic services should help develop the market but also the development of GI-related economic activity. They should make it easier to
access data. Behind that concept is a major economic question: how can
we fund these services? Many market surveys show that very few users
are willing or ready to pay for accessing or advertising data in metadata services. European Spatial Metadata Infrastructure (ESMI) is partially
funded by the EU, but is far from being a sustainable project, EEA organization, European Topic Centre/Catalogue of Data Source (ETC/CDS) and
Centre for Earth Observation (( EO) are two initiatives funded by EU.
The creation of GI data repositories is a difficult task, still requiring many
research and development activities. Will the market be able to find
the necessary investments to build up such services? If public service
funds such repositories, what will be their data policy, will they enable
private sector value-adding activity?
The debate remains open for all these questions.
A political framework
Defining a long-term strategy ensuring appropriate co-ordination providing answers to questions raised above, requires political decisionmaking. Political decision at the European level requires a large consensus, and many consultations to reach it. GI2000 plans to create a High
Level Working Party (HLWP) with the appropriate political mandate to
organize consultation process, define the strategy and ensure the appropriate leadership to run the difficult process of making a European GI
policy. The HLWP will also have to tackle the problem of public/private
relationships, defining the rules of the game.
Some initiatives
EGII is not a one step process, the EC has taken many initiatives and some
members States have already set up National GI infrastructures that will
be the foundation of a European initiative.
Through the Info2000 programme, 5
th Framework Programme and
JRC/CEO, the EC supports many projects that add their building-block
to the EGII edifice.
ESMI, CEO, the European Geological Data (GEIXS) and EEA/CDS are metadata service initiatives that received support from the Commission;
MEGRIN developed a metadata server on its own to advertise the products offered by its members, the National Mapping Agencies.
Many support actions like Pan-European Links for GI (Panel-GI), GIS
Interoperability Project Stimulating Interoperability in Europe (GIPSIE)
have also been funded to help awareness activities and support coordination with Central Europe countries.
53
Semantics is also an important and difficult issue. Europe has to manage
its multilingual and multicultural characteristics. Interoperable lexicons
should address that topic.
Basic services
The basic services should help develop the market but also the development of GI-related economic activity. They should make it easier to
access data. Behind that concept is a major economic question: how can
we fund these services? Many market surveys show that very few users
are willing or ready to pay for accessing or advertising data in metadata services. European Spatial Metadata Infrastructure (ESMI) is partially
funded by the EU, but is far from being a sustainable project, EEA organization, European Topic Centre/Catalogue of Data Source (ETC/CDS) and
Centre for Earth Observation (( EO) are two initiatives funded by EU.
The creation of GI data repositories is a difficult task, still requiring many
research and development activities. Will the market be able to find
the necessary investments to build up such services? If public service
funds such repositories, what will be their data policy, will they enable
private sector value-adding activity?
The debate remains open for all these questions.
A political framework
Defining a long-term strategy ensuring appropriate co-ordination providing answers to questions raised above, requires political decisionmaking. Political decision at the European level requires a large consensus, and many consultations to reach it. GI2000 plans to create a High
Level Working Party (HLWP) with the appropriate political mandate to
organize consultation process, define the strategy and ensure the appropriate leadership to run the difficult process of making a European GI
policy. The HLWP will also have to tackle the problem of public/private
relationships, defining the rules of the game.
Some initiatives
EGII is not a one step process, the EC has taken many initiatives and some
members States have already set up National GI infrastructures that will
be the foundation of a European initiative.
Through the Info2000 programme, 5
th Framework Programme and
JRC/CEO, the EC supports many projects that add their building-block
to the EGII edifice.
ESMI, CEO, the European Geological Data (GEIXS) and EEA/CDS are metadata service initiatives that received support from the Commission;
MEGRIN developed a metadata server on its own to advertise the products offered by its members, the National Mapping Agencies.
Many support actions like Pan-European Links for GI (Panel-GI), GIS
Interoperability Project Stimulating Interoperability in Europe (GIPSIE)
have also been funded to help awareness activities and support coordination with Central Europe countries.
53