EuroGeoInfo: Europe National Spatial Data Infrastructures

EuroGeographics has launched a new website providing a shop window for the wealth of information offered by its members. With a simple click on a map, www.eurogeoinfo.eu enables users to discover the national spatial data infrastructures, products and services available from 56 national mapping, land registry and cadastral agencies.

The website is also a discovery and view service for EuroGeographics’ pan-European products offering users the opportunity to overview data and choose location or geographic information at different scales and detail. These include EuroRegionalMap, used for marketing planning, service provision, retail site location, environmental analysis, vehicle routing and as map backdrop against which to display specific information, and EuroGlobalMap, which enables topographic features such as rivers, transport network and settlements, to be used as background for applications such as planning, monitoring, network analysis and presenting environmental policies.

Antti Jakobsson, EuroGeographics’ Programme Manager, announced the website’s launch at the 5th Inspire Conference in Edinburgh and said: “The view services offered through EuroGeoInfo are based on our Pan-European products at regional level. This is the first step in our strategy to provide reference data services from our members and to build the European Location Framework offering an official source for geospatial information in Europe.”

EuroGeographics’ Secretary General and Executive Director, Dave Lovell, who simultaneously launched www.eurogeoinfo.eu at the UN HQ in Geneva during the 7th session of the UNECE Working Party on Land Administration, added: “Information about location, ownership, value and use provided by our members is being linked in more ways than ever before to other data. This allows greater analysis of statistics, more accurate forecasting of trends and improved decision making to increase effectiveness and efficiency in both the public and private sectors. EuroGeoInfo has been designed to provide a first point of contact for finding this data and we are confident it will become an invaluable information source for policymakers, businesses and citizens across Europe.”

EuroGeographics’ Business Operations Manager, Sallie White commented: “This is a really exciting development for our members who want as many people as possible to easily access, use and benefit from their data. It also provides a single place from which to find the discovery and view services European Union member countries must provide under the INSPIRE Directive.”

EuroGeographics has also published its annual report covering its activities during 2010, its 10th anniversary year. In addition to updates on projects, products and services, the report also contains case studies showing the work of individual members. It is available to download.