The most common problems are that of the users demands for consistent data not being met by suppliers. The basic requirement for edge matched or seamless data across national boundaries in a common standard is not fulfilled.

The day may come when full interoperability will be a reality in the world of GI1, and when data coming from any source can merge together exactly and harmoniously. But that day of seamless GI has not yet arrived, while the world is facing more and more trans-border issues. There is today an urgent need for Global and Regional GI Infrastructures, which allow for planning sustainable development as well as dealing with crisis situations without unnecessary delay.

Both technical and licensing/supply issues urgently need to be considered by cross-border data users. On the technical side the most common problems are that of the users demands for consistent data not being met by suppliers. The basic requirement for edge-matched or seamless data across national boundaries in a common standard is not fulfilled. Furthermore, the available scale, inconsistent accuracy and detail, poor matching of data from different sources, out of date data and problems with language differences, are still to be overcome. Licensing and supply issues add to the technical problems. Lack of awareness of what data is available where, is another key issue in the rapidly developing global world.

The European NMAs2 have become aware of these issues, and decided to address them collectively through the creation of a two-level organisation, CERCO3 and MEGRIN4. This paper will describe this organisation and its achievements in creating the foundations for the European RGII5, in terms of networking, seamless GI datasets, and Internet information services. We will see that the European experience is a pioneer in terms of RGII. As such it may be used as an example for emerging RGII, and may help stimulate interoperability between different RGIIs i.e. between European GII and Asian GII, in a pragmatic vision of GSDI (Global Geographic Information Infrastructure).

The origins
In 1979, the then Director General of Institut Geographique National of France (IGN-France), Mr. Mayer had the following reasoning: “All my best staff are attending world-wide symposia, conferences, workshops, etc. They meet with their foreign colleagues, exchange ideas and create common new concepts, while me, sitting at the top of the pyramid, do not even know who my immediate neighbours are”.

Consequently, IGN-France invited the heads of its neighbouring NMAs to a meeting in June 1979. Enthusiastic discussions followed, and all participants agreed on meeting regularly in order to set up an effective and long lasting collaboration in the field of cartography.

The next step was made in June 1980 in Madrid, where Directors General of the NMAs of Belgium, France, Germany and Spain agreed on the text of the bylaws that were to be registered, and that would make CERCO an official body, whose main goal was defined as being:

“Mutual information, consultation and co-operation in the field of cartography as defined by the United Nations, with the exception of military mapping and hydrography”.

Membership
CERCO started as a very small club of neighbours. It has developed to include today representatives of most European countries, from Russia to Poprtugal, and from Iceland to Cyprus. In principle, CERCO members are the Heads of the National Mapping Agencies. However, each country has it own specific setting and NMA a country may greatly differ from NMA of a country B in nearly all aspects, i.e. size, remit and mission, regulatory authority etc.

Exceptions also exist. For example the United Kingdom in represented by Ordance Survey of Great Britain and by Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland. A different set-up exists in Germany, a federal states, which is represented by three organisations, BKG (Budesamt fur Kartographie and Geodasie) the federal mapping agency, one LVA (Landes-vermessungsamt: a state mapping agency) of Northrline-Westfalia, and the AdV (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Vermes-sungsverwaltungen: association of the LVA of the 16 German states).

Member organisations are grouped into four categories, according to their financial contributions, and potential new members are accepted as Observers for two years, before decision on membership is made.

The actual total budget of CERCO is in the range of 100,000 EUROs, that covers mainly : travels costs (Management Board, Working Groups,…) and administration (Secretariat etc,.)

The General Assembly
The main decisional body of CERCO is the General Assembly that meets once a year, generally in September. If a small meeting room was sufficient in the infancy of CERCO, General Assemblies of today need professional seminar facilities, as they tend to gather some hundred people for three days. Needless to say that such a big gathering would not be able to achieve practical results, were they not supported by the preparatory and organisational work of dedicated persons and teams.

The Executive
Three elements comprise the executive of CERCO:

• The President holds office for 2 years and is selected from amongst CERCO’s Members. The honour is offered in alphabetical order of the countries’ names and thus France which succeeded Finland will be followed by Ireland; Greece and Hungary having declined the opportunity.
• The Management Board which comprises the President and his immediate predecessor or successor plus 3 elected members provides policy direction which the President and Secretary General then carry out.
• The Secretary General is contracted for a period of 5 or more years. He is responsible for the administration and co-operation of the activities, the organisation of the meeting, etc.

The Working Groups
Much of the work of CERCO is carried out by its Working Groups. These are groups created on an ad-hoc basis to deal with on-going topics. They are composed of staff from CERCO members, involving as many as twenty people. CERCO has created a number of such WG’s over the years:

• Copyright and relations with private sector (now legal and economic affairs)
• Standardisation in digital cartography (1:1,000,000 scale)
• Advisory group to the president
• Carte de la Pollution de la Nappe Phreatique Rhenane
• European Territorial Data Base
• Education and training
• Database specifications for road navigation
• Geodesy and GPS
• Updating databases
• Preliminary work on MEGRIN
• Quality

The evolution of these various groups varies widely, as does their scope and objectives. WG1, VIII, IX and XI are still active while the others have either completed their objectives or ae no longer relevant. The costs involved are mostly covered by the participating NMAs, but a part of CERCO budget is also reserved to support the WG activities.

In addition CERCO undertakes Studies and currently these include The Benefits and Usage of Geographic Information, A survey of NMAs, and the Pros and Cons of Membership OGC. MEGRIN is often consider as CERCO’s daughter, also as its operational branch or commercial arm. Actually, as CERCO is the political component of the NMA contribution to the EGII1, MEGRIN is the component devised for implementation of decisions taken at that political level. (figure1)

A short history of MEGRIN
The Group Technique Permanent (GTP in French, Permanent Technical Group in English) was created by CERCO in Paris in September 1991, in order to start investigating the issues related to pan-European Geographic Information (GI had already superseded the previous term of “Cartography).

The initial finding of the GTP were that the creation of Pan-European datasets by assembling nationally produced GI databases would not be seriously hindered by technical limitations. Certainly technical difficulties existed but none for which the solution was perceived as out of reach. What was regarded as the main issue was the such a pan-European approach might encroach with the individual national legal frameworks, commercial policies or organisational structures and mechanisms.

Consequently, it was decided to create a stronger organisational framework suitable for addressing those issues.

As a result, the “MEGRIN Group” was created in Helsinki (Finland) on 15th June 1993 with the signing by 17 CERCO members of a Memorandum of Understanding. However, its legal identity was still considered too loose for its intended objectives, and a new step was made by registering MEGRIN as a GIE (Groupement d’ Internet Economique) under French Law in September 1995 with the signing of the GIE agreement in Budapest.

The GIE MEGRIN of 1999 counts nineteen full members, and it is expected that several other CERCO members convinced of its benefit, will also join MEGRIN by the year 2000.

Membership
Members of MEGRIN need to be firstly CERCO members. All CERCO members and observers are by default MEGRIN observers. To become an active MEGRIN member, with full voting rights, an organisation has to sign the Gie Agreement, and to pay an annual fee. They are defined after a formula involving each country’s GNP. This results in a much greater diversity of contributions than is the case for CERCO subscriptions.

The Management Board
The MEGRIN General Assembly comprises one representative of each of its members. Representative of the other CERCO members are invited as Observers. The MEGRIN General Assembly meetings are held once a year, jointly with the CERCO General Assembly, as they convene the same participants.

In the course of the year, MEGRIN activities are monitored by its Management Board composed of six people representing the principal contributors. The interests of all CERCO Members are looked after by the Secretary General who attends as an official observer. The Management Board currently meets about six times a year.

The operational units
The initial MEGRIN organisational model was very simple, providing the required highly flexible pattern for small sized teams. The Executive Director is mandated by the Board for day-to-day management of the activities . He directly manages the Project Team and shares the same premises provided by IGN. The Executive Director and the Project Team are all staff of CERCO member organisations, generally seconded to MEGRIN for a two-year term. The Service Centre is located in BKG’s office at Frankfurt-am-Main (Germany), and is directly staffed by BKG.

Distribution of the tasks between the two teams has been very flexible, with a tendency for the Paris team to specialise in project management, while the Frankfurt team tackles technical issues and data processing.

Starting from being a Working Group of three persons, MEGRIN is now an organisation of some ten permanent staff divided between the two teams, with additional limited short-time resource support from its members. Form the initial concept of a “Working Group” (part-time distributed resources) it became a “Project”, and is still sometimes referred to as such. However, this is no longer consistent with the scope to today’s activities. MEGRIN is now a professional organisation that produces, updates and licences commercial products and runs a metadata service on the Internet.

Important efforts in communication and marketing have been made in 1997 and 1998 to develop that image of a professional organisation. These efforts include the development of the Web site, papers and presentations in conferences, a new logo and leaflets, the development of a network of contacts in the GI professional community. As a result MEGRIN is becoming much better known as the focal point for matters related to pan-European GII and to the NMAs.

Main activities
MEGRIN’s activities are being driven by its official Mission Statement and Objectives. As will be seen from the following, they bears strong resemblance to those of any RGII.

The MEGRIN Mission Statement
“MEGRIN is a grouping of National Mapping Agencies set up to develop pan-European products and services which will help to provide the spatial framework that will enable public and private sector organisations to realise the economic, commercial, and social benefits of using geographic information.”

Objectives

• To raise awareness of, provide information about, and facilitate access to products and services available form European National Mapping Agencies;
• To facilitate the creation of a range of cost effective pan-European geographic datasets;
• To be committed to anticipating and identifying the changing needs of our customers and to help NMAs to meet those needs;
• To co-operate with and assist the European Commission in providing the European Union with the GI products and services it needs;
• Concrete measurable results can be divided in two main categories, both being essential blocks of the European RGII:
• Pan-European datasets, illustrated by the SABE1 product and the PETIT2 project;
• Pan-European information system, illustrated by the current GDDD3, and its future development resulting from the La Clef project.

SABE : the administrative boundaries
The Seamless Administrative Boundaries of Europe product has been the priority of MEGRIn since 1992. SABE has been through its definition phase, its project and development phase and has started its authentic commercial life only since 1997. However, 1997 revenues were still negligible., and achievements for that year were mostly commercial groundwork, the fruits of which started to be harvested in 1998.

The creation of SABE involves the stitching together of the digital administrative boundary datastets provided by 26 different National Mapping Agencies.

The technical stitching is not a small achievement as the national data was initially provided in all sorts of formats, data models, co-ordinate systems, etc. Today the specification has been stabilised and work at MEGRIN is easier as more and more NMAs provide data that are consistent with SABE specifications. (Figure2)

The commercial stitching is more of an issue, as the distribution policy of the unified pan-European dataset needs to look uniform, should not conflict with the national policies, and should conform to the market potential. MEGRIN managed to sign identical agreements with all 26 SABE source data providers that permit the GIE to licence the dataset to end-users, in whole or part, and directly or indirectly through distributors. Revenues of the licences are divided between MEGRIN, the distributor, and the source data providers.

The first version of SABE was a snapshot of the administrative situation of Europe on 1st January 1991. The date was chosen to coincide with the general census in many European countries, and the product requested by EUROSTAT. A first update, the 1995 version, was released in 1997, and the second update, the 1997 version, will be released early in 1999. The next version is planned for 1st January 2001 (release and 2001, beginning 2002), to coincide with the general census that will be completed in early 2001 in most European counties.

Is SABE a success? It is primarily a political success, as SABE has proven that MEGRIN and the NMAs can reach a common data policy, and can act to produce a uniform pan-European product that corresponds to a real market demand. For the first time NMAs have looked beyond their natural focus on national demand and specifics in order to provide the data that Europe needs. SABE can be viewed as a pilot experimentation that proves the feasibility of some basic mechanisms of EGII, that of providing for pan-European GI needs by assembling nationally produced datasets.

Secondly, SABE is also becoming a commercial success, since production costs have become lower while income has increased. We expect to break even in 1999 and the same trend will be strengthened so that yearly benefits will continue to grow gradually. Use and demand come from three main types of applications. In marketing, SABE is a powerful geo-referencing system that allows to identify target markets, generate drivetime catchment areas and optimise sales territories.

In statistics, it is becoming ‘The’ reference for data visualisation, and its use is recommended by EUROSTAT, the statistical office for the European Commission.

For the Internet, SABE provides a uniform homogeneous look-up mechanism that allows for cross-border geo-referenced queries.

PETIT : The 1:250.000 topographic dataset For some of our members, PETIT is in essence what MEGRIN is all about. PETIT is still in its project phase, co-funded by the European Commission within the Info 2000 program of DG13. PETIT is about creating a fully consistent pan-European topographical dataset at the reference scale of 1:250,000. Still a feasibility study, PETIT will result in a series of important deliverables:

• A prototype dataset of some 150,000 km2
• An Internet demonstrator
• Legal assessments and model agreements
• A marketing plan
• Production plans

After a review of the deliverables by the Management Board, the product marketing plan will be presented to the CERCO and MEGRIN General Assemblies for decision on whether or not the full implementation of a PETIT based product should be supported or not. (figure 3) If developed PETIT will thus be the second commercial product of MEGRIN, and one that can be considered as the complete demonstration of MEGRIN ability to create pan-European datasets based on source data provided by the NMAs.

Metadata : GDDD and La Clef
MEGRIN has also a mission of informing and awareness raising. The GDDD service is the most visible activity in that domain. The GDDD is a metadata service that provides on the Internet, free of charge, consistent descriptions and commercial contacts for the main digital mapping products of 22 European Mapping Agencies. It was the first implementation of the European standards of CEN/TC287, open to the general public since 1996. Some 3,000 pages of GDDD are consulted every month which prove users’ interest for the service provided.

Although an unquestionable success, GDDD has to move with rapidly changing web technology. A new project, named “La Clef” began in January 1999 and aims to develop the GDDD in terms of:

• Quality and quantity of content, with higher resolution metadata (on the dataset unit or “map-sheet” level), data samples (for viewing or download), and a wider range of products (including aerial photography, paper maps) and possibly related sectors (hydrography, geology, etc.):
• Quality of service, essentially with a fully multilingual interface, and geodetic application;
• Commercial application, with the development of an associated e-commerce facility.

This upgrading of the GDDD will have several major impacts on the running of the service.

• It will obviously offer a much better, more complete service to the users, with more available information, and a facilitated access to the data itself;
• Consequently, it will serve the interest of the NMAs by its powerful cross-cultural marketing potential;
• Finally, it may allow a more concrete measurement of its own usefulness and its possible future direction, with the evaluation of the e-commerce functions and results. (figure 4)

The measure of success
How to measure success for an organisation like MEGRIN? Delicate challenge… An objective criteria is overall cost-recovery because it can be expressed easily in figures of financial profit or loss. If brutally applied to MEGRIN, the situation might be evaluated as a complete disaster – most MEGRIN activities do not earn revenues.

Having only one “real” commercial product, 95% of whose revenues are returned to the source data providers and the distributors, MEGRIN has problems building a positive commercial balance.

However, even with a “bottom line myopia” attitude, a closer look at MEGRIN activities would show very positive signs. The actual level of activities has increased by 160% in three years, for a stable internal funding. The part of the external funding (or cost recovery) has increased in the same span of three years by 600%, from 10% in 1996 to 60% in 1999, this being possible thanks mainly to the creation of project consortiums co-funded by the European Commission. (Figure 5)

Another gauge of success
A more global evaluation of MEGRIN is to relate its achievements to its official mission and objectives.

The previous paragraphs certainly prove that MEGRIN has achieved a lot in the right direction. MEGRIN has created an image that is now well recognised and which also help to market its members own image, products and services through its different projects and Internet Services (obj. 1). It has created a needed Administrative Boundary pan-European dataset, and prepares to launch a more ambitious assembly line for a full topographical dataset (obj. 2). The internet Service and the SABE dataset are in the process of being upgraded (obj. 3) and MEGRIN is in permanent contact with the relevant units as the European Commission in order to ensure a consistent approach to pan-European GI issues (obj. 4).

However, the tasks are not completed, and more work needs to be done. The rapid evolution of the GI sector induces the need for continuous re-evaluation of MEGRIN achievements and objectives.

Whatever the achievements of CERCO/MEGRIN may be in terms of pan-European GI issues, the two-level organisation does not pretend to represent the whole of EGII. An efficient EGII needs to involve all actors of the European GI sector, and MEGRIN works in close relation with all of them, the main being the European Commission and EUROGI.

The EC (European Commission)
As the national government have everywhere been the main actors in the definition, the funding and the maintenance of the national GI policies, the EC has a key role to play in the development of the EGII. This role can be secured in two complementary ways.

The first one, already effective, if still limited in its scope, is by direct funding of GI related projects. MEGRIN is currently co-ordinating two such projects 50% funded by a programme named Info 2000.

But this is not sufficient. A European GI Infrastructure needs a long term global common policy framework. This does not exist yet, but significant progress has been made in the preparation of a document that may build the necessary political foundations for the EGII. That document is known as the “GI2000 paper” and is available on Internet1.

EUROGI
EUROGI2 was created November 1993 as an Umbrella Organisation that would link National GII as well as pan-European GI related organisation. CERCO is a member of EUROGI, and MEGRIN and EUROGI and co-partners in several projects. In contrast to CERCO that represents only the NMAs, EUROGI brings together all the actors of GI, including the customers, the industry and the government agencies.

Conclusion
No simple answer can guarantee a successful development of EGII in the coming years, but there is no doubt that efforts cannot be discontinued. The financial and human investments made by CERCO/MEGRIN in the past are now bringing concrete benefits, not only for their own members but also for the wider community of GI users in Europe. The successful development fo EGII will depend on the capabilities of all GI actors to collaborate to produce and implement a coherent long term EGII policy.

GI : Geographic Information

NMA : National Mapping Agency

CERCO : Comite European des Responsables de la Cartographic Officielle

MEGRIN : Multipurpose European Ground Related Information Network

RGII : Regional Geographic Information Infrastructure

EGII : European Geographic Information Infrastructure

SABE : Seamless Administrative Boundaries of Europe

PETIT : Pathfinder for a European Topographic Information Template

GDDD : Geographical Data Description Directory

GI2000 discussion document available at : http://www2.echo.lu/gi/en/gi2000/discussion98.html

EUROGI : the European Umbrella Organisation for Geographical Information.