April 25, 2012 -- The European Spatial Data Infrastructure Network (ESDIN) project, co-funded by the European Commission’s eContentplus programme and co-ordinated by EuroGeographics, has won a Geospatial Excellence award for Policy Implementation – SDI at the Geospatial World Forum in Amsterdam.

The 30-month collaboration between mapping and cadastral agencies, academic institutions and technology providers, helped prepare data and delivered prototype services essential to meet the requirements  of the INSPIRE Directive and, in doing so, laid the foundations for the European Location Framework or E.L.F. 

The subject of a new EuroGeographics’ White Paper, the E.L.F will be a technical infrastructure which delivers authoritative, interoperable, cross-border geospatial reference data for analysing and understanding information connected to places and features. It is the means by which data complying with the INSPIRE Directive will be delivered to the European Spatial Data Infrastructure (ESDI) being created using EuroGeographics’ members’ national reference information. This uses location as the basis for searching, cross-referencing, analysing and understanding Europe-wide social, economic and environmental issues.

“ESDIN’s findings extend beyond simply assisting the European Union (EU) member states to meet INSPIRE obligations, they also provide the first steps towards the E.L.F,  a new approach to pan-European geospatial reference data with information from national mapping, cadastral and land registry authorities at its heart,” says EuroGeographics’ Programme Manager, Antti Jakobsson, who collected the award on behalf of the ESDIN project partners at the event, which was attended by  around 1,000 participants from 79 countries. EuroGeographics’ President, Ingrid Vanden Berghe and David Overton, ESDIN Project coordinator, joined Mr Jakobsson to accept the accolade.

“The European Location Framework will deliver a host of benefits and support a wide range of policy initiatives including the European Digital Agenda; the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable growth; and the Directive on the reuse of Public Sector Information. The E.L.F’s reach will also extend far beyond the borders of the 27 Member States with many EuroGeographics’ members outside the EU connecting their national geospatial reference data services to deliver harmonised pan-European ‘data as  a service location information,” added EuroGeographics’ Secretary General and Executive Director, Dave Lovell.

The creation of an E.L.F community of data providers, users, developers and standardisation bodies will play a key role in ensuring the requirements of all stakeholders are met.  For more information, the E.L.F White Paper is available at www.eurogeographics.org/about. To learn more about ESDIN’s achievements and results, visit www.esdin.eu/project/summary-esdin-project-public-deliverables. Anyone interested in joining the discussion about the E.L.F should register with www.eurogeoforum.eu, a place for sharing information about developments in geographical information.
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For further information please contact EuroGeographics’ Secretary General and Executive Director, Dave Lovell, on +32 2 888 71 93, +32 848 663 345 (mobile), email: dave.lovell@eurogeographics.org; Patricia Sokacova, EuroGeographics‘ Membership and Communication Manager on +421 903 056 418/+421 948 388 908, email: patricia.sokacova@eurogeographics.org; or Rhian French on +44 1264 338375, +447892 698 350 (mobile), email: press@eurogeographics.org.

Notes to Editors
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, land registry and cadastral authorities. It brings together 56 members from 45 countries, from Portugal to the Ukraine and Iceland to Turkey.
EuroGeographics’ members invest around €1.5 billion in the development of geographical information each year and use cutting-edge technology to create, manage, maintain and make available authoritative national databases. Together, they are developing an infrastructure to integrate their national data – including topographic and land information – to deliver the definitive pan-European location framework for a wide range of uses. By sharing best practice and creating standard data specifications and policies, EuroGeographics aims to ensure that members’ individual geographical databases are compatible and can interact with one another. This will provide Europe with the high quality geographical information it needs to develop policies and legislation for the environment, business competitiveness, public services, legal systems, security and more.

To find out more about EuroGeographics, please visit www.eurogeographics.org
To see our members’ geographical information in action, please visit our showcase at www.youtube.com/eurogeographics