EuroGeographics calls for integration of trusted geospatial data in next global development framework

Geospatial data should be integrated into the next development framework to strengthen and make it more inclusive beyond the 2030 Agenda, says EuroGeographics.

The not-for-profit membership association for European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities was speaking at the thirteenth session of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM).

During a series of interventions, EuroGeographics reiterated its commitment to sharing its extensive knowledge exchange network with the Committee, as well as offering support in facilitating access to official high-value European geospatial data and demonstrating its contribution to the public good. The Association also welcomed a new paper on authoritative data by UN-GGIM’s Working Group on Policy and Legal Frameworks for Geospatial Information, adding that it provides a thorough global understanding of the meaning.

“As the Member Association representing the European organisations nationally mandated to produce geospatial information, we strongly believe in a society empowered by trusted authoritative data from official national sources,” said Sallie Payne Snell, Acting Secretary General and Executive Director, EuroGeographics.

“Our collaboration with the United Nations Statistical Division provides a platform for sharing expertise and experience to unlock the power of geospatial data to benefit people and planet. We have extensive experience in establishing partnerships with those who share our goal and, to further support the Committee’s activities, we are committed to providing access to our knowledge exchange programme which links different players within the wider data ecosystem.”

Carol Agius, Head of Representation and Stakeholder Engagement, EuroGeographics, added: “The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Report 2023 Special Edition highlights the data challenge for the SDGs and calls for more inclusive data for development. We agree with the Committee of Experts that more effort should be invested in coordinating and collating data for the SDGs to address both the information and digital divide.”

“As national providers of official geospatial information in Europe, our members’ data enables the connection between people and place, and plays a key role in measuring where progress is, or is not, being made. EuroGeographics therefore suggests to the Committee of Experts that geospatial data should be an integral component of the next development framework, and offers its support in enabling access to official high-value European geospatial data, sharing expertise and best practice, and demonstrating the use and value of location to provide a stronger and more inclusive development framework beyond the 2030 Agenda. “

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, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities.

Balancing demand for open data with data security is key challenge say European Cadastral Agencies

Meeting the challenge of balancing demand for open government data with data security is a key issue for European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities (NMCAs), a survey has found.

Of the 26 organisations responding to a joint questionnaire by EuroGeographics and the Permanent Committee on Cadastre in the European Union (PCC), 20 reported conflicts between data openness and security increasing arising from increasing requirements for confidentiality, accuracy and availability.

“Information from cadastral authorities is one of the most valuable resources for a functioning society and is fundamental to the four priorities of Sweden’s EU Presidency: security, resilience, prosperity and democracy,” says Dr Daniel Steudler, Chair of EuroGeographics Cadastre and Land Registry Knowledge Exchange Network (KEN).

“Securing land ownership is the foundation of a market economy and there is a clear need for robustness and resilience of basic infrastructures in times of uncertainty, particularly to prevent and manage catastrophic consequences, such as landslides, flooding and wildfires.”

“To meet the needs of society, co-operation and interconnectivity is key. Information must be readily available, interoperable, and adapted towards digital processes. Data protection therefore presents a real challenge in meeting the demand for cadastral open data.”

“National geoportals, Web Mapping Services (WMS) and National Geodata Infrastructures are just some of the ways in which NMCAs are overcoming issues in co-operating and co-ordinating the sharing of geodata between different authorities.”

Members of EuroGeographics are also working together to deliver pan-European open data through the Open Maps For Europe interface. This includes an Open Cadastral Map prototype which currently provides large-scale coverage for six countries.

This first iteration, developed under the award-winning Open Maps For Europe project, which is co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union, includes Poland, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Spain, Denmark and Slovenia. The map takes INSPIRE open data and allows the user to find out what is available from national sources in one place before obtaining the data from the official provider. The cadastral map comprises four layers: Administrative Units, Cadastral Parcels (and Cadastral Zones), Buildings (and Building Parts) and Addresses.

The prototype will be enhanced by Open Maps For Europe 2 (OME2) which is co-funded by the European Union.

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, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities.

Open Maps For Europe was co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union and ended in 2022. It was coordinated by EuroGeographics, the voice of European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities, in partnership with the National Geographic Institute (NGI) Belgium.

The OME2 project is co-funded by the European Union. It is being delivered by a consortium comprising: EuroGeographics, the not-for-profit membership association for Europe’s National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities; National Geographic Institute, Belgium; National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information, France; Hellenic Cadastre; General Directorate for the Cadastre, Spain; and Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency, The Netherlands.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them.

EuroGeographics invites case studies and quality feedback for medium-scale pan-European open data

EuroGeographics is calling for case studies from users of its medium-scale pan-European topographic open dataset, EuroRegionalMap.

The not-for-profit association for European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities is also asking for feedback on the quality of the dataset available via the Open Maps For Europe online interface. EuroRegionalMap production is coordinated by the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), Germany.

Victoria Persson, Project Manager – Data Access and Integration, EuroGeographics, explains: “EuroRegionalMap, which consists of nearly 7 million objects in 60 layers and seven themes, is produced using our unique data integration process. This harmonises and edge-matches authoritative national geospatial information from 33 members. Quality is assured via an extensive validation test suite.”

“Traditionally, this dataset has been used for backdrop visualisation and cartographic publishing, for spatial analysis, and in combination with other datasets for marketing planning and socio-economic analysis, environmental analysis, and transport management. Now it is available under an open licence, users are embracing new ways to benefit from the data. We are therefore inviting them to share their case studies and feedback on quality so we can better understand – and meet – their needs.”

Case studies and feedback can be submitted via this short questionnaire.

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, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities.

Open Maps For Europe was co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union and ended in 2022. It was coordinated by EuroGeographics, the voice of European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities, in partnership with the National Geographic Institute (NGI) Belgium.

The OME2 project is co-funded by the European Union. It is being delivered by a consortium comprising: EuroGeographics, the not-for-profit membership association for Europe’s National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities; National Geographic Institute, Belgium; National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information, France; Hellenic Cadastre; General Directorate for the Cadastre, Spain; and Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency, The Netherlands.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them.

EuroGeographics and International Cartographic Association agree collaboration to unlock power of location

Tim Trainor, International Cartographic Association, President is pictured (left) with Colin Bray, President, EuroGeographics

Experts in authoritative geospatial data, cartography and GIScience have today (29 August 2023) announced a new international collaboration to demonstrate the power of location.

Members of EuroGeographics, the not-for-profit association for European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities, and the International Cartographic Association (ICA) will use their collective expertise to support the public good. As a result, they will focus on advocating for the widespread use of information about location by promoting its social, environmental and economic value in solving global issues.

Colin Bray, President of EuroGeographics, said: “As the national authorities for official high-value geospatial information in Europe, high quality and reliability is the calling card of EuroGeographics members. In an ever-changing world, they play a key role in helping to address global and regional issues that extend beyond borders.”

“This requires cooperation to ensure an effective collective response. We are therefore delighted to announce a closer collaboration with the ICA on activities of mutual interest. By sharing opportunities for knowledge exchange and best practice, we will further support our vision of a society empowered by the use of trusted geospatial services.”

Tim Trainor, ICA President added: “We are delighted to have signed a letter of collaboration with EuroGeographics. By working together, our two Associations can contribute to the understanding and solution of world problems by ensuring our respective expertise is employed to maximum effect and full potential for the benefit of society.”

“We look forward to collaborating with Europe’s official sources of national geospatial data to demonstrate the use of Cartography and GI science in decision-making processes and fostering the national and international use of geospatially referenced environmental, economic and social information.”

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, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities.

To find out more about the International Cartographic Association, please visit https://icaci.org/

Final call for abstracts for Fourth International Workshop on Spatial Data Quality

Organisers of the fourth International Workshop on Spatial Data Quality have issued a final call for abstracts.

Submissions covering a wide range of topics, including ways in which data providers can ensure that their data continues to be trusted, ways of bringing together data from multiple sources to ensure seamless, high-quality datasets, and ways to communicate the quality, relevance and content to users, are invited by 17 July.

The event, to be held in Brussels and online on 11 and 12 October 2023, is organised by not-for-profit organisations, EuroGeographics, which represents Europe’s National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities (NMCAs), and EuroSDR, the European Spatial Data Research network that links NMCAs with Research Institutes and Universities. It brings together producers, users, academia and software suppliers to debate spatial data quality, with a particular focus on the impact of new technologies.

More information is available here.

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, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities.

Open Maps For Europe demonstrates demand for pan-European open data from official national sources

More than 4,000 registered users have downloaded around 4,700 datasets and carried out 6 million web service transactions via Open Maps For Europe.

The figures were announced by EuroGeographics, the not-for-profit membership association for Europe’s National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities, which coordinated the project in partnership with the National Geographic Institute (NGI) Belgium.

The organisation also revealed the most popular dataset was EuroGlobalMap, multi-themed topographic open data at 1:1 million scale, followed by 1:250 000 scale EuroRegionalMap and EuroDEM, a 1:100 000 scale digital open data elevation model providing height data. The datasets are also discoverable on the European Data Portal and on the NGI Belgium data portal.

“We are delighted to announce that Open Maps For Europe has far exceeded its initial aim of increasing users of our pan-European datasets by 50%, instead achieving an 1600% increase - a clear indication of its success and demand for pan-European open data from official national sources,” says Victoria Persson, Project Manager – Data Access and Integration, EuroGeographics.

“This is the first time that these datasets, created using our members authoritative geospatial informationand EuroGeographics’ unique data integration process, have been easily discoverable, accessible, and released as open data under a single licence. Our customised approach harmonises official national geospatial information to standard specifications so users can be confident that it is consistent, comparable and easily shared.”

“The Open Maps For Europe 2 (OME2) project now builds upon this success by delivering a prototype for harmonised large-scale, high-value pan-European open dataset. OME2 will develop a new production process and technical specification for free-to-use, edge-matched data under a single open licence. Authoritative 1:10 000 scale data for 10 countries will be delivered via the Open Maps For Europe online interface, developed by IDOX France.”

The award-winning Open Maps For Europe project was co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union.

The OME2 project, co-funded by the European Union, is being delivered by a consortium comprising: EuroGeographics, the not-for-profit membership association for Europe’s National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities; National Geographic Institute, Belgium; National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information, France; Hellenic Cadastre; General Directorate for the Cadastre, Spain; and Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency, The Netherlands.

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, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities.

Open Maps For Europe was completed at the end of 2022. It was co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union, and coordinated by EuroGeographics in partnership with the National Geographic Institute (NGI) Belgium.

The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of EuroGeographics and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union.

Fourth International Workshop on Spatial Data Quality launches call for abstracts

Abstracts are now being accepted for the fourth International Workshop on Spatial Data Quality to be held in Brussels and online on 11 and 12 October 2023. The deadline for submissions is 17 July.

The 2023 event is organised by not-for-profit organisations, EuroGeographics, which represents Europe’s National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities (NMCAs), and EuroSDR, the European Spatial Data Research network that links NMCAs with Research Institutes and Universities. It brings together producers, users, academia and software suppliers to debate spatial data quality, with a particular focus on the impact of new technologies.

Carol Agius, Head of Representation and Stakeholder Engagement, EuroGeographics said: “We are living through a time where trust is becoming more important, because it is becoming harder to gauge and measure. A large aspect of trust is based on source and provenance, and NMCAs have long been viewed as the source of official and high-quality spatial data for evidence-based decision making.”

“This workshop will address a wide range of topics examining how data providers can ensure that their data continues to be trusted, as well as ways they can bring together data from multiple sources to ensure seamless, high-quality datasets and communicate the quality, relevance and content to users.”

Joep Crompvoets, Secretary General of EuroSDR added: “Innovative technologies are being employed to capture, manage, maintain and update spatial data faster and more effectively. While NMCAs are implementing these new efficient and cost-effective methods, they also need to ensure that there is no impact on quality and that their processes are keeping up with both technological advances and user expectations for data accuracy. We look forward to discussing possible solutions to these and other challenges in October.”

Papers are invited on all topics related to spatial data quality, including (but not limited to):

• Lifecycle management

• Qualitative differences in methods of edge-matching

• Generalisation – maintaining quality

• Harmonisation

• Quality evaluation of spatial data

• Use of international metadata and standards

• Quality issues in spatial data infrastructures (e.g. national, INSPIRE)

• Communication/visualisation of spatial data quality

• Spatial data usability/quality from the users perspective

• Impact of data quality on decision making

• Data Quality and AI (including algorithms)

• Data Quality and 3D

• Research trends in spatial data quality

• Practical implementation of spatial data quality assessment

• Quality standards

• Software for measuring quality

• Quality of 3rd party data, crowdsourced/OSM etc.

• Spatial data quality policies

• Data quality and trust

All abstract submissions will be independently reviewed by the programme committee members.

Programme Committee

• Jonathan Holmes (Committee Chair), Ordnance Survey

• Carol Agius, EuroGeographics

• Victoria Persson, EuroGeographics

• Joep Crompvoets, EuroSDR/KU Leuven

• Anouk Huisman, Kadaster Netherlands

• Tony Baving, Kadaster Netherlands

• Frédéric Cantat, EuroSDR/IGN France

• Nóemie Gremeaux, IGN France

• Joren Van Gysegem NGI Belgium

• Karin Mertens, NGI Belgium

• Kevin Thompson, Tailte Éireann

• Nienke Eernisse, Ordnance Survey

More information is available here.

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, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities.