GI Interoperability in Europe Lars Bernard European Commission DG Joint Research Centre Institute for Environment and Sustainability, ESDI Action Ispra, Italy
1) INSPIRE Outline 2) Interoperating Geoinformation Services in an European cross border SDI 2) The EU-Geo-Portal a first component of the ESDI 3) Interoperability awareness 4) Conclusions & lessons learned
EU policies and GI Increasing interest for the spatial dimension: GI-GIS needed at a European level to Assess needs Formulate the policy Monitor its implementation Evaluate its effectiveness Inform European Citizens,... GI-GIS explicitly required in EU directives/regulations Water Framework directive, Habitat, Urban, Noise,
But only islands Data policy restrictions pricing, copyright, access rights, licensing policy Lack of co-ordination across boarders between levels of government Lack of standards and their use incompatible information incompatible information systems fragmentation of information redundancy In summary: no infrastructure Lack of data EU has islands of data of different standards and quality...
Need for action! INSPIRE INfrastructure for SPatial InfoRmation in Europe Without a co-ordinated framework as minimum common denominator for all Member States the problems will persist. INSPIRE launched in September 2001. http://inspire.jrc.it
INSPIRE Framework Objectives & Principles Make relevant, harmonised spatial data available for Community Environmental Policy (formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation) and for the citizen... through the establishment of integrated geoinformation services, based upon a distributed network of databases, linked by common standards to ensure compatibility. Linked to legal basis and policy measures Pan-European harmonisation of metadata / datasets / services (as far as necessary) in an European Spatial Data Infrastructure (ESDI)
INSPIRE Framework Scope Existing digital spatial data (exception: essential datasets) Public sector Protection of the environment, Sustainable development, Integration Data policy Licensing framework for sharing between public bodies Publish, discover and view services free of charge No charging constraints on access Implementing provisions Establishment of Committee, Monitoring and Reporting Stepwise approach
INSPIRE principles 1. Spatial data should be collected once and maintained at the level where this can be done most effectively. 2. It must be possible to combine seamlessly spatial data from different sources across the EU and share it between many users and applications. 3. It must be possible for spatial data collected at one level of government to be shared between all the different levels of government. 4. Spatial data needed for good governance should be available on conditions that are not restricting its extensive use. 5. It should be easy to discover which spatial data is available, to evaluate its fitness for purpose and to know which conditions apply for its use.
INSPIRE complements other key Information Directives... Copyright Databases Exploitation of Public Sector Information Environmental Information WFD Habitats Data Protection INSPIRE Enabled Access Noise Ratification of Aarhus
INSPIRE - Organisation Driving Forces: European Commission (DG Environment, EuroStat, JRC), EEA, GMES-Initiative INSPIRE Expert Group (Member States, Umbrella organisation in the area of environment and GI) JRC/IES (coordination, technical & scientific secretary) http://inspire.jrc.it
Data resources Local data National and Subnational SDI INSPIRE Information Flow INSPIRE specifications request for information services Discovery Service Technical Integration/ harmonisation Users Government & Administrations Utility & Public Services Commercial & Professional Users National and Subnational SDI European Data Harmonised Data policy Research European Data ESDI National and Subnational SDI Local data Collaborative agreements delivery of information services CEN / ISO / OGC NGOs and not-for-profit orgs Citizens
Steps towards the ESDI From discovery of GI resources to Full Interoperability of GI services Standardisation Harmonisation Integration Metadata Discovery Service Data Policies Licensing Framework Coordinating structures Geodetic Framework Seamless data Quality insurance (Updating, Certification) Semantics Catalog Services View Service Query Service Object Access Service Geo-Processing services (Coordinate- Transformation, Generalisation )
INSPIRE Schedule/Outlook Oct 2002 : final position papers May 2003 : Internet consultation June 2003 : Extended impact assessment First quarter 2004 : Interservice consultation 2004 : Adoption of proposal by EC 2006 : Adoption of INSPIRE Pre-implementation phase 2006+ : Implementation of framework
JRC Technical Support of the INSPIRE pre-implementation phase, e.g.: Close Relationship to CEN/ISO/OGC Chair of OGC-ISO/TC211 Joint Advisory Group Support of ISO, CEN, and OGC outreach Host of 19th Plenary of ISO/TC211 (Baveno, Italy) Workshops on connecting RSDI (1 st in 1/2003) Cross border pilot European Geoportal First prototype in 11/2003 Outreach AGILE 2004, 10 th EC-GI & GIS.. interoperability awareness
Background Interoperating GI services in EU RSDI A cross border study Discussions with stakeholders on realizing a NRW- NL cross border GDI since almost one year Technical Workshop in Ispra in Jan. 2003 on connecting European RSDI showed that only a few cross-border linkages can be realized in the moment
Interoperating GI services in EU RSDI Cross Border RSDI Study (March - June 2003) Funded by EU-INTERREG, NL, and NRW: A) Study on different stakeholders and their needs on a cross border SDI B) Organization plan for a sustainable cross border SDI C) Pilot on easy-to-reach cross border SDI applications D) Presentation of the results on the 2nd NRW-NL Geo-Conference in June 2003 (Münster)
Objectives Interoperating GI services in EU RSDI A cross border study Prove and demonstrate the applicability of state of the art technology and GI standards: proving that it is simple and easy to achieve proving that technology and standards are practical and applicable, experience is available proving that Cross Border partnership leads to better results reporting the current technical potentials of cross border RSDI and the open development and research issues apply the INSPIRE recommendations
Cross Border RSDI Prototype Scope of the Pilot: Offering cross border geo-information by providing cross border Web Mapping Services (WMS) and Web Catalog Services (WCatS) Providing topographic data and road data by different WMS Accessible through universal clients in HTML-browser and allowing seamless usage of linked WMS
Cross Border RSDI Prototype Technologies Internet Catalog Service Find Publish Bind Client Geoinformation Resources
Cross Border RSDI Prototype Technologies Web Catalog Service (WcatS): Standardizes the way a client searches for metadata descriptions on spatial data or services Parameters include the query language used, the desired verbosity of the result, etc. Catalog servers manage metadata descriptions based on a metadata schema, e.g. ISO 19115 Basic operations: GetCapabilities TransactionService GetRecord DescribeRecordType Catalog Service
Cross Border RSDI Prototype Technologies OpenGIS Web Map Service (WMS) Standardizes the way in which clients request maps Parameters include: named layers, size and area of the returned map, spatial reference system, etc. A WMS has 3 operations: GetCapabilities GetMap GetFeatureInfo Geoinformation Resources
Topography Cross Border RSDI Prototype Data Road Food-and-mouth disease cases (fictive) Metadata for Datasets and Services (ISO 19115) <servicetype> <namevalue>wms</namevalue> <namenamespace/> </servicetype> <servicetypeversion>1.1.0</servicetypeversion> <servicetypeversion>1.1.1</servicetypeversion> <citation> <title>xtrawms - GDI Testbed II (2nd Rev)</title> <date datetype="creation">2003-01-11 00:00:00</date> <citedresponsibleparty> <individualname>reinhard Erstling</individualName> <organisationname>interactive instruments GmbH</organisationName> <positionname>geschäftsführer</positionname> <contactinfo> <phone>
Cross Border RSDI Prototype Overview: Catalog Services CS / CS Client NL NCGI WRS Client NRW CeGi WRS NRW CeGi
Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management This case is added to a web-accessible map server (*) by a veterinary from the Dutch environmental authority (*) the MKZ map server; food-and-mouth-disease is mond en klauwzeer in dutch Operator NL WMS - MKZ Data NL Geodan
Cross Border RSDI Prototype Overview: Mapping Services WMS - Road/Topo/NUTS NL Geodan WMS Client IfGI WMS - MKZ Data NL Geodan WMS - Topo Data NRW AED WMS - Road Data NRW ii
Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management In the Netherlands a case of food-and-mouth-disease has been detected.
Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management The Dutch veterinary calls its German colleague in North- Rhine Westphalia to inform him about the developments and discuss measures
Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management The German veterinary in North-Rhine Westphalia starts his Web Browser and opens a Cross-Border GDI Portal http://www.gdi-nl-nrw.info/
Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management He opens a catalog client to search for information about the food-and-mouth-disease in Gelderland He uses the keywords: Gelderland Maul- und Klauenseuche and finds the mond en klauwzeer map server in the Netherlands (due to the availability of multi-language metadata)
Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management The veterinary in North-Rhine Westphalia opens his favourite web mapping client He adds the MKZ-Layer from the map server found by his search WMS - NUTS NL Geodan WMS Client IfGI WMS - MKZ Data NL Geodan
Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management The veterinary sees a map with one or more symbols representing MKZ cases He clicks on one symbol to retrieve additional information about the particular case
Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management The veterinary now uses the catalogue client again to search for road data in both the Netherlands and North- Rhine Westphalia
Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management He finds two map servers and adds layers from these servers to his map
Together with his colleague in the Netherlands he identifies a location that needs closer inspection (the closest border crossings from the reported cases where control points shall be established; no control points on highways) Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management
As he zooms in to this area, more details are shown on the map (topographic layers) Both operators can now identify and discuss in detail where the control points should be established, etc. Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management
Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management After the discussion is finished and the measures have been agreed upon, both veterinaries continue to communicate with the required authorities in their region (e.g. police, road administration, etc.) In order to do this successfully and efficiently, a presentation of the same information in the native language of the respective region is essential support for multiple languages is a key aspect for cross-border activities
The situation as seen by the operator in the Netherlands Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management
Cross Border RSDI Prototype Conclusions Major Achievements: Up-to-date geo-information is available across borders / pan-european using existing GI-specifications and standards Collaboration is possible on a shared and common information level (Low-key) semantic interoperability is achieved through the use of mapping services No pre-installed software is required, just a web browser and an internet connection
Cross Border RSDI Prototype Conclusions What was required to make these applications work: Usage of common technical specifications and standards Web Map Service Catalog Service Common base information models and their encoding Availability of the required datasets via the internet All services support a common Coordinate Reference System (CRS) Multi-language support in Web Map Services and the metadata useful lessons for the EU Geoportal
EU Geo-Portal - Motivation Recommended by INSPIRE WGs Architecture and Standards and Implementing Strategy GINIE Project Supported by the INSPIRE Internet consultation One entrance point to the up-coming ESDI to support the search and access to geoinformation resources in the ESDI Evaluation and demonstration of current developments and their potentials Motivation of national and regional SDI-development
EU Geo-Portal Does not contradict the Idea of the ESDI, being based on distributed geoinformation services ( INSPIRE-consultation) A Geo-Portal realizes a thematic and/or regional view on the SDI (environmental portal, national portal, etc.). Has an important teaching, learning, and motivation effects : what happens? what is already feasible? who is already taking part? (= my GI resources should also be connected)
EU Geo-Portal - Requirements In chronological order (1/2): Based on distributed geodata & GI services (no local copies )! Publish and search geoinformation Access to further relevant resources (Documentation, FAQ, links, ) Integration of distributed portrayal services (Web Mapping Services) Provide multilingual Thesauri and Gazetteer
EU Geo-Portal - Requirements In chronological order (2/2): Multilingualism Application, Thesauri, Metadata, Attribute identifiers of geodata or services up to which granularity?!? Support of AAA services (Authorisation, Access, Account); perhaps Pricing- and Ordering Services user profiles Access on further geoprocessing services (classification, coordinate transformation, etc.) and GI service chaining according to user needs
EU Geo-Portal - Components Web Browser (Thin Client)
EU Geo-Portal - Prototyp Requirements for the prototype: Publish of Geoinformation (geodata and GI services) by registering metadata Search for geoinformation Access to further relevant resources (Documentation, FAQ, links, ) Integration of distributed portrayal services (Web Mapping Services) same techniques as used in the cross border prototype
EU Geo-Portal - Prototyp JRC JRC
EU Geoportal Prototyp - Standards OGC Web Services WMS 1.x.x Metadaten (ISO) 19115:2003 using the categories recommended by INSPIRE this Metadata needs to be provided to register your service or dataset Geographic names for Gazetteer NIMA
EU Geo-Portal Prototype http://eu-geoportal.jrc.it
Searching data on biodiversity
Search results
See metadata
View map
Zoom map and select NATURA2000
Zoom and query NATURA 2000
Add new WMS (CORINE Land Cover)
Issues / Lessons learnt In a European context, built-in support for multiple languages is required in technical specifications like Web Map Service and Catalog Service The higher the structural and semantical similarity of the information on both sides of the border, the easier it is to exploit cross-border data (e.g. layer classification) Integration by mapping does result in maps with heterogeneous mapping styles not necessarily a problem
Issues / Lessons learnt Metadata Lack in collecting and providing of Metadata - thus use of metadata can hardly be proven Further need on tools to support (semi-) automatic collection and maintenance of metadata Missing support to combine ISO 19115 and 19119; Standards not always sufficient Multilingualism Harmonising Of used Schemata und Categories Used Vocabularies in Thesauri and Gazetteer ( semantic Interoperability)
Issues / Lessons learnt ISO-Standards and OGC-Specifications are a good & important tool for Interoperability, but it needs some additional glue Definition of CRS, Scale-Hints, layer names Certification of services ( CITE) Quality measurement of distributed(!) services Long-lasting Specifications ESDI Technical Guidelines; support to harmonise additional specifications on European level Futher development of specifications (incl. feedback to ISO & OGC!!) by European and national SDI-Projects
Create awareness on interoperability Pre-conference Tutorial -Technical Foundations of Interoperability for Geoinformation and Workshop - SDI & Interoperability for Geoinformation 27-28 April '04 at 7th AGILE 2004 (Heraklion, GR) http://www.agile-online.org Workshop on national and regional Geo-Portals 23-25 June '04 at 10th EC-GI & GIS Workshop, (Warsaw, PL) http://wwwlmu.jrc.it/workshops/10ec-gis/
Thank You for Your Attention! Questions & Comments?! contacts in the ESDI team: Alessandro Annoni alessandro.annoni@jrc.it Lars Bernard lars.bernard@jrc.it Ioannis Kanellopoulos ioannis.kanellopoulos@jrc.it Paul Smits paul.smits@jrc.it
Cross Border RSDI Prototype Common CRS (ETRS89 + UTM32)
The use of open specifications allows the integration in standard GIS products, too Showcase NL-NRW Cross-Border Risk Management