May 18, 2012 -- Members of the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Association have chosen EuroGeographics’ Secretary General and Executive Director, Dave Lovell OBE FRGS CGeog as its President-elect. The election took place during a meeting of the Association’s Council held before the GSDI World Conference in Quebec City, Canada.

To help grow membership and deliver tangible benefits to both members and society as a whole, Mr Lovell will draw on his experience leading EuroGeographics’ transformation to an international association, as well as his background working in national mapping. His focus will also include building strong relationships, ensuring maximum impact from investment, whether financial or in terms of people’s time, and the further development of GSDI’s strategy and operational plan.

After his election, Mr Lovell commented: “These are exciting times for the geospatial community. Thanks to greater availability and technological capability,  geo-information today touches more people’s lives than at any other time in history and users have a far better understanding of its benefits.”

“I am honoured to have been elected to this position by my peers and look forward to working with the Board of GSDI and its new president, David Coleman, to build upon its many successes.”

Mr Lovell has represented Europe on the Board of GSDI since 2007 and will continue in his role at EuroGeographics.
 
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 agencies. 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.
EuroGeographics members 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

GSDI
GSDI includes organisations, agencies, firms, and individuals. Its purpose is to promote international cooperation and collaboration to support local, national and international spatial data infrastructure developments that will allow nations to better address pressing social, economic, and environmental issues.
For more information visit www.gsdi.org/