EuroGeographics at Geospatial World Forum

EuroGeographics is supporting Geospatial World Forum in Amsterdam from 2-4 April 2019. 

As a strategic partner of this important event, we will be facilitating a panel comprising our President and five Management Board Members during the conference on 4 April 2019, from 0900 to 1030.  The panel will discuss how European NMCAs are leading the way to ensure geospatial data is an integral part of the growing digital economy, and will cover important topics such as the importance of authoritative data from our members, how geospatial and cadastral data contributes to the data economy, the democratisation of data and the importance of collaboration, nationally and internationally. 

EuroGeographics will also launch demonstration and test services from the Open European Location Services (ELS) Project on the 2nd April, with demonstrations available in the exhibition.  These services will include EuroGlobalMap as a web feature service, Open Cadastral Index Map from some countries and pan-European regional gazetteer of geographical names.

If you are there please come along and support our activity on Stand 34.  You will also  be able to follow events via social media using #openels.

EuroGeographics at DGI Europe 2019

EuroGeographics is delighted to be a media partner for DGI Europe 2019, the leading global geospatial intelligence conference.

Mick Cory, EuroGeographics Secretary General and Executive Director will moderate a panel on how National Mapping Agencies should plan to thrive in the future automated environment. 

He will be joined by Ingrid Vanden Berghe, Head of the NGI Belgium, Martins Liberts, Head of Latvian Geospatial Information Agency, Neil Ackroyd, Interim Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey Great Britain and Dorine Burmanje, Chairman Executive Board, Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency The Netherlands (Kadaster) to discuss how leaders of NMCAs from across Europe plan to transform their organisations so that they are better positioned to support their customers who are operating in increasingly more automated operational environments.

The debate will focus on:

  • How has the digital revolution already impacted the way national mapping agencies operate?
  • How are expectations from the user community for digital maps transforming the way mapping agencies behave?
  • What are different nations doing to adapt to a more automated operational environment?
  • What roles will the national mapping agency have in 5 years’ time?

More information is available here.

Strategic Partnership for Geospatial World Forum 2019

EuroGeographics and Geospatial Media & Communications have entered into a strategic partnership for Geospatial World Forum 2019.

Colin Bray, President of EuroGeographics and Sanjay Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of Geospatial Media & Communications signed the agreement during the United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress in Deqing.

Through this partnership, EuroGeographics, the international not-for-profit membership association for European national mapping, land registry and cadastral agencies, will encourage its member network to attend the conference scheduled to be held in Amsterdam from 2-4 April 2019.

As a Strategic Partner, EuroGeographics will co-organize an Exchange Forum on “Growing Role of Geospatial Data Agencies in the Digital Economy” at the conference. The Exchange Forum will discuss the need for Geospatial Data Agencies to reorient themselves in order to stay relevant in the digital economy. Topics such as democratization of geographic data, open standards, and public-private partnerships, among others, will be of focus.

“As the official bodies responsible for national cadastre, land registration, geodetic surveying and mapping activities in Europe, our members fulfil an essential role providing official, definitive and detailed geospatial information,” says Mick Cory, Secretary General and Executive Director, EuroGeographics.

“We believe in a society empowered by the use of their authoritative geospatial data and services. Our partnership with Geospatial World Forum is a great opportunity to show how they are driving applications to realise a wide range of social, economic and environmental benefits, as well as quicker, more efficient, secure and reliable land registration in support of an equitable property market.”

"The common objective of this partnership is to facilitate greater industry insight into work of the national mapping, land registry and cadastral agencies via a business platform like Geospatial World Forum,” says Sanjay Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of Geospatial Media and Communications. “It has been a great endeavor for us at Geospatial Media to highlight how government and industry can work together. We’re delighted to have the support of an esteemed organization like EuroGeographics in bringing this endeavor forward,” he added.

About EuroGeographics

EuroGeographics is an independent international not-for-profit organization representing Europe’s National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities. The organization currently brings together more than 60 member organizations from 46 countries. EuroGeographics supports the public good by representing our members’ interests, maintaining networks that help our members improve their capabilities and role, and by facilitating access to and use of our members’ geospatial data and services. By providing a single point of contact, we enable government, business and citizens to benefit from their collective expertise, products and services.

About Geospatial World Forum

Geospatial World Forum is a collaborative and interactive platform, which demonstrates collective and shared vision of the global geospatial community. It is an annual gathering of 1500+ geospatial professionals and leaders representing the entire geospatial ecosystem – public policies, national mapping agencies, private sector enterprises, multilateral and development organizations, scientific and academic institutions, and above all end users from government, businesses, and citizen services.

Co-hosted by the Dutch Kadaster, the 2019 Forum will carry the theme ‘#geospatialbydefault – Empowering billions!’ to demonstrate geospatial technology as ubiquitous, pervasive, and ‘default’ in our daily lives. Some of the topics to be discussed includes sustainable development goals, smart cities, construction & engineering, location analytics & business intelligence, environment; and emerging technologies such as AI, IoT, big data, cloud, blockchain and others. Learn more about the conference at www.geospatialworldforum.org

New product leaflets published

Did you know EuroGeographics offers four European geospatial data products, including open data? Each is produced using official geospatial data from our members, the National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities.

Our products are harmonised to standard specifications, so users can be confident that the information provided is consistent, comparable and easily shared – regardless of its national source.

We offer standardised, transparent pricing and licensing agreements. The data is updated annually and can be used in a wide range of applications including analysis, planning and research.

Find out more in our new product leaflet.

GSDI makes further investment in geospatial data infrastructure

The Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Association has announced a donation of almost US$40,000 to continue to stimulate the implementation and improvement of spatial data infrastructures globally. This  financial support, specifically targeted at low and lower middle income countries, will be administered by the Global Geospatial Information Management Section, of the UN Statistics Division.

Find out more

EuroGeographics expands coverage of administrative boundaries in latest release

Boundary information for 55 countries is available in EuroGeographics’ latest release of data from official national sources.

EuroBoundaryMap enables the exact matching of administrative areas with statistical data using a European-wide unique identifier and is produced using harmonised geospatial data from 39 members of the not-for-profit organisation for European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities. It covers all 28 EU Member States, 3 current EU candidate countries, 4 EFTA States and Kosovo as well as Greenland, the Canary Islands, Azores, Madeira and French overseas territories.  

Angela Baker, Sales, Marketing and Channel Manager, EuroGeographics said: “This new version of EuroBoundaryMap offers the latest administrative and statistical information for 55 countries – from the most detailed local level to country level. In addition, the data links to the updated statistical LAU- and NUTS-codes for all local administrative units of the EU 28, which makes it ideal for a wide range of geo-referencing and analytical applications.”

“As part of our annual data update, we have also enhanced our 1:250 000 scale topographic mapping, EuroRegionalMap. Following the addition of Croatia, it now offers full coverage of the EU 28 and the boundary, hydrology, miscellaneous and name themes have been updated.”

“EuroGeographics believes in a society empowered by the use of trusted geospatial services from official national sources. Facilitating access to our members' data by delivering European geospatial products and services plays a key role in achieving this vision.”

EuroGeographics’ portfolio of pan-European datasets includes open data and a digital elevation model. The data is harmonised to standard specifications, so users can be confident that the information provided is consistent, comparable and easily shared — regardless of its national source – and is available under transparent pricing and licensing agreements.

Germany’s Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG) manages production of EuroBoundaryMap and EuroRegionalMap whilst the National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information (IGN France) supports the production of EuroGlobalMap open data.

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For further information please email: press@eurogeographics.org.

Notes to Editors

EuroGeographics

EuroGeographics is an international not-for-profit organisation (AISBL/ IVZW under Belgian Law. BCE registration:  833 607 112) and the membership association for the European National Mapping, Cadastre and Land Registry Authorities. It currently brings together 63 members from 46 countries.

To find out more about EuroGeographics, please visit www.eurogeographics.org.

Colin Bray elected President of EuroGeographics

Colin Bray, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Survey Officer, Ordnance Survey Ireland has been elected President of EuroGeographics.

Mr Bray was elected by the Heads of Europe’s National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities at their membership association’s 2018 General Assembly. He succeeds Ingrid Vanden Berghe from the National Geographic Institute, Belgium who has held the position since 2011.

Members also voted representatives from Cyprus, Denmark, The Netherlands and Ukraine to the Association’s Management Board. As a result it now comprises:

  • President Colin Bray, Ordnance Survey Ireland.
  • Andreas Hadjiraftis, Department of Lands and Surveys of Cyprus.
  • Kristian Møller, Danish Agency for Data Supply and Efficiency.
  • Sylvain Latarget, National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information, France.
  • Martin Lenk, Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy, Germany.
  • David Henderson, Ordnance Survey, Great Britain.
  • Martin Salzmann, The Netherlands’ Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency.
  • Liudmyla Shemelynets, State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre.
  • Amalia Velasco Martín-Varés, Spanish Directorate General for Cadastre.

Mr Bray said his focus would be on ensuring that EuroGeographics is strategically positioned to support the ongoing development and sustainability of its members.

He added:“EuroGeographics members are very significant organisations with long and proud histories in providing quality national geospatial services.There is no doubt that data from these official sources is needed but, in the information age, we cannot continue to do things in the same way as they have been done before.”

“It is 18 years since the Association was first established following the merger of MEGRIN and CERCO. When marking an important anniversary, it is tempting to focus on past achievements – of which there are many – but it is also important that we continue to look to the future.If we are to secure the sustainability of our national geospatial services, we must act as enablers of an integrated geospatial reference platform for Europe for evidence-based decision-making and planning.”

Leaders and senior representatives from 51 authorities in 42 European countries attended the annual General Assembly hosted by the Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre in Prague.

The three-day event, was officially opened by Mr Pavel Sekáč, Minister for EU Funds, Science, Research and Education with a welcome from Karel Večeře, Director General, Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre, and a keynote from Konstantinos Kapsouropoulos, Policy Officer, DG CONNECT.

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For further information please contact press@eurogeographics.org.

Notes to Editors

EuroGeographics

EuroGeographics is an international not-for-profit organisation (AISBL/ IVZW under Belgian Law. BCE registration:  833 607 112) and the membership association for the European National Mapping, Cadastre and Land Registry Authorities. It currently brings together 63 members from 46 countries.

To find out more about EuroGeographics, please visit www.eurogeographics.org.

 

 

EuroSDR Award for best geoinformation science PhD thesis

Since 2016, EuroSDR has recognised contemporary PhD theses that have significantly contributed to the development of geoinformation science in the context of National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies (NMCAs). To enhance collaboration between European academia and NMCAs, as well as to engage young scientists in its research endeavours, EuroSDR is pleased to announce its 2018 competition.

To be eligible, a PhD thesis should have been successfully defended in the period from January 2017 to August 2018. The PhD topic should be related to one or more of the research areas covered by the EuroSDR commissions (see http://www.eurosdr.net). The call is restricted to applicants that completed their PhD study in Europe.

Applications should consist of:

  • A cover letter describing the main contribution/impact of the research contained in the thesis from a NMCA perspective (up to 300 words in English);
  • A PDF copy of the successfully defended thesis (in any European language);
  • An extended abstract of the thesis (1 000 – 1 500 words in English);
  • A short video presentation describing the research of the thesis (maximum 3 minutes in English);
  • A certificate evidencing the date of the successful PhD defence;
  • Independent reviews of the thesis (if available, for example from the thesis examiners);
  • Curriculum Vitae of the applicant.

All application material must be sent to the EuroSDR secretariat (eurosdr@kuleuven.be) to arrive no later than 31st August, 2018.

EuroGeographics highlights key role of European NMCAs at GGIM8

European NMCAs have an important role to play in UN-GGIM and, as their membership association, EuroGeographics is committed to ensuring their distinctive voice and interests are heard.
 
Earlier this month, we were pleased to participate in GGIM8 in New York where we provided a collective voice for members. 
 
Secretary General and Executive Director, Mick Cory made a series of interventions highlighting members’ contributions, particularly in the work of UN-GGIM: Europe. He also reiterated EuroGeographics support for initiatives to strengthen geospatial information management, the Global geodetic reference frame, and the implementation and adoption of standards, reminding delegates of the expertise within the Knowledge Exchange Networks (KENS).
 
Strengthening geospatial information management
 
EuroGeographics:  

  • Noted the contribution of the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Association, and its generous donation to capacity development initiatives. This is something that EuroGeographics, as a member of the Board GSDI, encouraged and strongly supported. We are pleased to note it has already had an impact.
  • Drew attention to the ongoing contribution made by members to the work of UN GGIM Europe. Not only do some of our members play an active role, but our members also provide funding, through EuroGeographics, for the UN-GGIM: Europe Secretariat and we are pleased to continue to provide other support in establishing this important global endeavour by making a number of interventions.
  • Welcomed and supported the proposal to host the 6th High-level forum in Europe, and thanked the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for taking the lead in this work. He also welcomed the United Kingdom’s leadership in the revision of the Future Trends document and offered support and assistance, through all 5 stages of the development plan, including the use of our network members, the National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registries of geographic Europe.

Global geodetic reference frame

EuroGeographics:

  •  Noted and read with interest the present report and the work of the Subcommittee on Geodesy.
  • Supports and welcomes the aspiration for a strengthened global governance structure whilst stressing a number of critical points for the sub-Committee to consider, in particular the importance of demonstrating that this will indeed reflect in better governance, better decision making, better communication and further out-reach.
  • Requested that more is done to ensure that those who are not already active or expert in geodesy get involved and better understand the importance of this work, and also better understand the work of the many different bodies involved in geodesy internationally, and explain their relevance and importance in these challenging times.
  • Commended the ambition to strengthen governance and highlighted that this requirement also extends to a number of other areas of geospatial information management, particularly in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and should be considered further by the UNGGIM Secretariat.
  • Supported engagement with our members to ensure they are fully informed and aware of the proposals before formal positions are requested. To avoid duplication of effort, our Positioning Knowledge Exchange Network in Europe should be used to inform them of these important developments.    

Determination of 14 global fundamental geospatial data themes
 
EuroGeographics:

  • Acknowledges and welcomes the report and the activities of the working group in preparing the definition of the 14 global fundamental data themes.
  • Noted that administrative boundaries are one of the fundamental themes and highlighted that EuroGeographics continues to contribute to the Second Administrative Level Boundaries (SALB) programme, through the provision of its pan-European open dataset compiled from 39 national authoritative datasets from our members. 
  • Spoke of the work and contribution of all our members to this dataset, and in particular to the standardisation efforts undertaken by IGN France in preparing the data in SALB-ready format. 
  • Encouraged other member states and organisations to help support this project, and stressed that EuroGeographics remains ready to assist and advise, on the processes, procedures and organisation, and our experience if requested to do so. 
  • Highlighted that it shares the view that communication and promotion of these global fundamental data themes is essential, and noted in particular the value and importance of endorsement by the UN Committee of Experts. 
  • Suggested the use of simple, straightforward and non-technical language suitable not only to our own community, but also to those throughout government, in particular to those responsible for the national mapping, cadastral and land registries. This will help strengthen the relevance and importance of their work, and how it contributes to the global geospatial information management initiative and SDGs.

Implementation and adoption of standards for the global geospatial information community
 
EuroGeographics: 

  • Noted and acknowledged the report and activities carried out by the Open Geospatial Consortium, technical committee 211 of the International Organization for Standardization, and the International Hydrographic Organization.
  • Drew attention to the work of the Quality Knowledge Exchange Network which is about to publish updated guidelines for implementing the ISO19100 Geographic Information Standards in European National mapping, cadastral and land registries. We also expressed the wish to contribute this document to the UNGGIM knowledge database as  a good practice example elaborated by the experts from Europe’s National Mapping Authorities.

EuroGeographics pledges support for global geospatial information framework

EuroGeographics has welcomed a new guide for improving location-based data management and reconfirmed its active support for an integrated global geospatial information framework.

At the Eighth Session of the UN-GGIM in New York, Mick Cory, Secretary General and Executive Director of theinternational not-for-profit association, congratulated the UN Statistics Division and World Bank on their work to develop an integrated geospatial information framework as an overarching strategic policy guide and reference.

To help communicate, coordinate and implement this framework in Europe, EuroGeographics is offering to further facilitate access to its members, the European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities (NMCAs),through its extensive programme of activities for sharing expertise and knowledge.

Mr Cory said: “We share the UN and World Bank’s strategic aim of improving capacity and capability in the area of national spatial data infrastructures. European NMCAs play an important role in UN-GGIM and our members place tremendous value on collaborating to find solutions to common challenges with many already providing expert assistance to low and middle income countries. We are committed to exploring how we can help further facilitate access through this framework.”

“EuroGeographics has a well-established network for exchanging knowledge and expertise, as well as a successful track record of delivering geospatial information and projects, which can be used to avoid duplication of effort and promote complementarity. Members’ willingness to share experiences and best practice is central to the success of our Knowledge Exchange Networks.”

“The Knowledge Exchange Networks, which include our high-level General Assembly for the Heads of European NMCAs, cover a wide range of subjects, including policy, surveying, data quality, positioning and licensing. They provide a forum for discussing issues of mutual interest through a comprehensive calendar of annual events, including webinars, workshops and conferences, and also issue a range of publications such as the results of research, policy papers and best practice guidelines.” 

Mr Cory also welcomed the publication of a new UN and World Bank guide for improving location-based data management to better inform decision-making. He added that he hoped the recent action plan piloted by EuroGeographics members in Albania would help others learn and develop the detailed implementation plans outlined within it.

EuroGeographics actively supports and contributes to the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management initiative (UN-GGIM) and is also an observer on the Executive Committee of UN- GGIM: Europe, for which it provides the secretariat.

ends

For further information please contact press@eurogeographics.org.

Notes to Editors

EuroGeographics

EuroGeographics is an international not-for-profit organisation (AISBL/ IVZW under Belgian Law. BCE registration:  833 607 112) and the membership association for the European National Mapping, Cadastre and Land Registry Authorities. It currently brings together 63 members from 46 countries.

To find out more about EuroGeographics, please visit www.eurogeographics.org.