GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 Towards a European Spatial Data Infrastructure: Recommendations for Action from the GINIE project A. Annoni (*), M.Craglia,(°), P.Smits (*) *Joint Research Centre – European Commission, Institute for Environment and Sustainability °University of Sheffield Sheffield Centre for Geographic Information and Spatial Analysis

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 Geographic Information Network in Europe Aim – Develop a cohesive GI Strategy at the European level Partners: – University of Sheffield, Project Co-ordinator – Open GIS Consortium Europe, Ltd. – EUROGI - European Umbrella Organisation for GI – Joint Research Centre of the European Commission Accompanying Measures, IST Programme Funded timeframe – 1st November 2001 to the 31st October 2003

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 GINIE: Key activities Developing a sound knowledge base through the comparative policy analysis of frameworks for access, use, and dissemination of GI Strategic input to INSPIRE and contributing to the international debate taking place at the GSDI6 Raising awareness and capacity building which includes targeted actions for policy-makers at national and European levels Establishing government and industry panels to help formulate a cohesive European Strategy for GI, and a business model to make it work.

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 GINIE SDI ws Rationale – Currently Europe characterized by fragmentation multi-cultural, multi-lingual, and multi-national nature of Europe, main challenges are organisational, institutional, and political in nature Objective – to bring together experiences with existing or upcoming SDIs (13 EU countries + US),in order to: to evaluate the extent of progress of SDIs in Europe, identify key issues that need addressing to ensure complementarity between European and national/regional developments.

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 Outcome of the WS discussions input to “Comparative analysis of SDIs” report : Part I - summary of each country’s experience Context Foundation and Legal framework Funding Educational aspects Co-ordination Data content Access to information Standards User expectations and benefits Part II - comparative analysis and recommendations for actions from a European perspective. Executive summary translated in several European languages * available on GINIE web site (

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 SDI is successful when.. it is developed, used, and maintained by several agencies responsible of key data resources including socio-economic, environmental, land and property, and reference data, it is ready to answer to real needs, particularly at times of emergency such as natural or man-made disasters, its data conform to common specifications, are maintained up-to- date, and are easy to find and access, it is multi-level from local to regional and national levels, there is functional homogeneity across levels of jurisdiction, there is clear authority in managing the framework, it supports sufficient economy to justify itself.

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 Political support Political support at the highest level is crucial – Governments play a crucial role in the development of SDIs being at the same time data producers, users, policy setters, and regulators – GI is expensive and source of tension between policies maximizing government revenue vs maximizing benefits to citizens. – a clear framework of agreements is needed among government agencies, the private sector, and citizens Political support needs to be sustained over time – political priorities may change over time. SDIs remain sensitive to changes in organisational priorities and political leadership.

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 Selling the Benefits SDI should be developed at all levels – need to address politicians and decision-makers at each level and demonstrate the benefits The benefits have to address areas of high political priority – need to demonstrate To demonstrate, start to use existing examples and then focus on applications that deliver quick wins – disaster management (Toulouse, Chernobyl,.), environmental management (water framework directive, flooding across Europe), and transport (impact of blocked tunnels across the Alps) Need to manage expectations – the development of an SDI requires education, and the change of organisational cultures

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 Coordination One of the most important aspects in SDI development Identify gaps&inconsistencies in the SDl framework is important The roles of the coordinating body include: – Leadership / Mediating inter-agency conflicts / Sustaining political support / Selling the benefits to multiple audiences / Providing technical guidance and enforcement of common standards / Raising awareness and disseminating the results SDI coordination does not need to be expensive Some lessons from US experience – without firm coordination still risk of “departmentalism” – coordination needs its own budget to be effective – think big and act small (promote the vision, but phase implementation)

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 Phased Implementation 1/2 Different models/approaches in EU as a result of cultural differences – Eg longer time in the planning stage / start with available and develop – One model does not fit all. A phased implementation is crucial – Collaboration and complementarities are key principles. – Some legal backing requiring MS to develop a base-line SDI seems necessary Need to support organisational and institutional capacity, promote international standards and best practice, and provide technical coordination and support – including development of European specifications for data content based on what already exists, whilst keeping the impacts on national dbs to a minimum. – Work is needed to harmonize data and achieve seamless coherent information.

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 Phased Implementation 2/2 Implementing an ESDI needs to consider a series of issues: – Identification/selection of who will be in charge of data harmonization, – Coordination between ESDI technical coordinators and existing agencies, – How this work will be funded, – relationships between original and harmonized data, issues of IPR and access. – top down (policy, coordination), and from the bottom up, integrating what already exists. a GeoPortal is important – to demonstrate what can already be achieved by making public sector data more visible and accessible

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 Recommendations: Political & Financial and sustainability Political sustainability – politicians should be encouraged to take an active role in all committees involved in establishing and steering the development of the SDI, at all levels. Financial sustainability – To kick-start the ESDI establishment, financial support should come initially from national governments through general taxation investments must be regarded as an integral part of the e-Europe and e- Government because the SDI underpins the modernisation of government, and increased access to PSI – When ESDI is in place, long term financial stability must be ensured. This may require a combination of public and private investment, and user charges congruent with the objective of maximising its use.

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 Recommendations: Legal Framework a common legal framework should be set in place, it should require: – of the EC that ESDI principles should be followed in all EU-funded projects, i.e. the development of data and technology specifications should be considered in parallel to enable delivery of a specific service, – of Member States that a base-line SDI on agreed priority services (e.g. Catalogue Services) be constructed building on existing services or creating them where not available.

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 Recommendations: Coordination a coordinating framework at the European level should be established. – Operational coordination: To define European specifications for common data content and encoding, To provide technical advice, support, and technology watch. To promote international standards for interoperability. To coordinate the activities of the organisations charged with data harmonization. To manage a European GeoPortal. – Strategic Coordination To support NSDI development through capacity building, comparative studies,... To ensure that European policies/actions are consistent with the ESDI development To liase with national organisations in raising awareness at the political level It is further recommended that each of these two coordinating functions be supported by a clearly earmarked multi-annual budget

GSDI6, Budapest 16-19/9/2002 Recommendations: Phased implementation a phased implementation for ESDI development should be based on subsidiarity, multilingual GeoPortal be established for demonstration purposes, and to measure the success of ESDI development. – Such portal must integrate with e-government services underpinned by location rather than providing GI services isolation. Candidate services and capabilities should be identified early in order to construct a baseline ESDI. A core European technical committee (TC) should be established at an early stage to define European specifications, and provide technical coordination of the ESDI. Organisational and financial framework for the data harmonization be established in consultation with existing European Agencies, and the core TC Capacity building measure focus on SME's in the value-chain of services needed to guarantee the implementation at the local level, and on local government.