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An European Perspective on Geo-Information Infrastructure (GII) Issues
Perspective of the Paper
Presented in this paper are a number of considerations and issues which may arise when one wants to establish a nationwide or even (sub)continental wide GII. Our considerations are based on experiences gained within Europe. Our perspective is that of an interested scientific-oriented citizen. The author has not been involved in any of the many European GII initiatives. An obvious drawback is that the issues, which I attempt to convey, are not a result of indoor-experiences and lacks an insiders perspective. However, this disadvantage is at the same time an advantage, because I will be able to perceive the issues from an objectifying distance, while being free of any form of direct interest, involvement or opportunism.
Our considerations are the reflection of an extensive examination of papers, articles and reports, which have been disseminated over the last couple of years. This paper is not designed to provide a definitive list of issues or means for successfully tackling the problem of implementing GII. Since the paper summarises what the author believes are some of the key issues, its primary objective is to offer means for discussion. The main message of the paper is that the availability of a technical infrastructure, i.e. the Internet, is a necessary but not sufficient condition for GII establishment.
As a basic framework for my consideration, I have taken a recently published EUROGI report, called: Towards a Strategy for Geographic Information in Europe (EUROGI 2000). The report has been released on the 5th of October, 2000. EUROGI is the European Umbrella Organisation for Geographic Information representing over 3000 organisations in 20 countries. Set up in 1993, its mission is to maximise the effective use of geographic information for the benefit of the citizen, good governance and commerce in Europe and to represent the views of the geographic information community in discussion with the EU and other bodies (for more information refer to www.eurogi.org).
Technology and Society Backgrounds
During the last decade of the previous century, many new sensors types have become operational or into existence. Examples of such sensors are high-resolution airborne and spaceborne digital cameras (only bring to mind the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites), the Global Positioning System (GPS and Glonass), Laser Altimetry, and Interferometric SAR, which enable the collection of geo-data with a level of detail, accuracy, automation and collection rate never before seen in history. The accuracy and level of detail of the geo-data produced by these sensors, not only support the national economy in fields like agriculture, forestry, mining, water and coastal management, marine fisheries and sustainable development, but they are also very useful for large scale applications such as urban and infrastructure planning. This progress is accompanied by two other technological revolutions: computer technology and telecommuncation in general, and more specifically the rapid growth of the Internet and its use. These developments are still rapidly expanding.
From the non-technological point of view, we may witness that the needs of society are dramatically changing. This is because for many decades, an intensifying process of exploitation of the earth has been in progress. Today land is not only a source of wealth, as it was up to the 18th century, but also a commodity and a scarce community resource with environmental and social considerations tempering the historic economic or land market drive (Ting and Williamson, 1999). As a result, a strong intensification of land use occurs, with even multi-purpose use of the land and the sea, with as an arbitrary example precision farming. These developments induce the need for proper management, increased monitoring, and planning at the square metre level. Indeed, recent times have shown a multitudinous, sometimes tremendous, expansion in many aspects of our being on earth. When making a comprehensive, non-limited list of phenomena demonstrating massive expansion over the last Century, it would include: world population, mobility, local conflicts, size and number of mega-cities, communication, food production, energy consumption, exploration of natural resources and the sea area, and use of outer space. We may witness that because of the above massive expansion, the need for geo-data is steadily growing. Because of the peculiar need from society, we may readily expect that the emerging technologies will continue to have a huge impact on the way we collect, we access and we use geo-information.
As a consequence of the above developments, awareness is growing at many organisations, institutes, the private sector and citizens for the need of a national wide or even (sub)continental wide GII. The key to understand the impact of the evolving GII is to recognise that the relationships humankind has with respect to earth are rapidly changing. We have a strong awareness of the increasing pressure we are bringing to bear upon the environment. We are deeply convinced that we have to take care of the earth, because we have the technology to destroy the weak balances created through millions of years of evolution. This is a brand new paradigm, never before seen in history. As a result, we want to monitor and manage environmental processes and the effects of human activity on these processes.
Geo-Information Infrastructure Issues
This part of the article lists the main issues which may arise when one wants to establish a nationwide or even (sub)continental wide Geo-Information Infrastructure. First of all, we have a look at the users of geo-information (Section A). Their role is central and essential. Next, we have a look at the group of geo-information producers, which is becoming increasingly heterogeneous (Section B). Does the increase of accuracy and level of detail of the wide variety of geo-data products, emerged from a heterogeneous group of manufacturers, accordingly mean that the users are better served? In Section C we show that this is not necessarily so and that the emergence of proper geo-data products is crucial. Because it may be expected that the creation of a free-market place, regulated by legislation and controlled by government, provide the best conditions to arrive at greater use and better exploitation of existing geo-information, we pay also attention to the market place for geo-information (Section D). At marketplaces, producers and consumers of commodities come together. Since money is the lubricant of any transaction, we spend a few words in Section E on the complicated issue of price setting. Key decision makers have a huge influence on the success or failure of launch and completion of a GII. Therefore, we consider in Section F necessary actions to be taken to convince politicians about the benefits to be gained from introducing a GII. The easy access of data and the need to solve complex problems, induce the need for merging of different geo-data sets stemming from different sources. Combination of data requires standards. Accordingly, a proper interoperability framework is needed, subject of Section G. The last two sections of this part of the paper, discuss governmental policy and the importance of establishing communication platforms.
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