the eu inspire directive: an infrastructure for spatial information in the european community

The EU INSPIRE Directive:An Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community

– A briefing document and discussion of implications for UK academia

Author: James Reid, EDINA National Data CentreDate: June 2011Status: PUBLICVersion: 2.1 [draft]

The EU INSPIRE Directive: An Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community

What is INSPIRE? Comments1

The Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the Community (INSPIRE), published by the European Commission in July 2004 and made a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council in 14 March 2007, is an initiative to create a pan European Spatial Data Infrastructure. Its intention is to improve the interoperability of spatial information across the European Union at a local, regional, national and international level. In doing so it aims to facilitate improvements in the sharing of spatial information between public authorities and provide improved public access to spatial information.

• INSPIRE lays down a general framework for a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) for the purposes of Community environmental policies and policies or activities which may have an impact on the environment.

• INSPIRE is based on an infrastructure for spatial information established and operated by the Member States.

• INSPIRE does not require collection of new spatial data2.

The INSPIRE Directive was published in The Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) in April 2007 and is entitled ‘Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE)’, the ‘INSPIRE Directive’ for short.

The INSPIRE Regulations were enacted into UK law (separtely for Scotland, England & wales & N.Ireland) in December 2009, effective as of 31st December 2009.

A Spatial Data Infrastructure or SDI is a framework of spatial data, metadata, users and tools that are interactively connected in order to use spatial data in an efficient and flexible way. Another definition is the “technology, policies, standards, human resources, and related activities necessary to acquire, process, distribute, use, maintain, and preserve spatial data”.

It is intended for use in environmental policy making in the first instance, with the intention that it be extended wider.

While most of the EU member states have SDIs initiatives underway very few have operational national SDIs although various components of SDIs are definitely in place or being

1 Any text shown in Italics is a direct quote from either the Directive or related Commission documents.

2 However it does require that two years after adoption of the relevant Data Specifications each Member State should ensure that all newly collected spatial data sets covered by the Annexes (see Appendix) are made available in conformity with the supporting Implementing Rules. Existing data sets must conform to the Rules within seven years of their adoption.


What is INSPIRE? Comments1

• INSPIRE does not affect existing Intellectual Property Rights.• Data interoperability and data sharing are prime objectives.

The guiding principles of INSPIRE are:• that the infrastructures for spatial information in the Member States should

be designed to ensure that spatial data are stored, made available and maintained at the most appropriate level;

• that it is possible to combine spatial data from different sources (harmonised data) across the Community in a consistent way and share them between users and applications;

• that it is possible for spatial data collected at one level of public authority to be shared between all the different levels of public authorities;

• that spatial data are made available under conditions that do not restrict their extensive use;

• that it is easy to discover available spatial data, to evaluate their fitness for purpose and to know the conditions applicable to their use.

developed. The most referenced SDI in Europe is that of North Rhine Westphalia in Germany but this is a sub-member state SDI. Most SDI initiatives are building SDI’s from the bottom up. The financing of the construction of SDIs is a major issue.

INSPIRE was enacted into UK Law December 2009. Regulatory details are contained in a set of Implementing Rules (IR) that are being drafted. UK plans for the implementation of INSPIRE are included in the UK Location Programme (UK LP) under the auspices of the UK Location Council (UK LC). The UK LP is implimenting that UK SDI and will susume repsonsibility for ensuring conformance with the INSPIRE regulations. Note that the UK LP’s scope is broader than INSPIRE (in terms of focus on a broader range of spatial data) although the initial focus (2009-2012) will be on ensuring compliance with INSPIRE requirements.


What did INSPIRE come from?The initial motivation for creating a spatial information infrastructure was to be better able to formulate, implement and monitor European environmental policies, bearing in mind the costs and upheaval related to cross border environmental impacts and the changing climate. This environmental orientation is still very much a driving force in the Directive and explains the inclusion of all the data sets listed in the Appendix at the end of this document.

To manage the environment effectively, the EU needs the better provision of spatial data to support environmental policy making, better spatial data flows between systems to support these policies and better sharing of this data between governments, agencies and the citizen.

Historically, Europe has had a lack of standards for the provision of spatial data and no pan-EU Directives for sharing or coordinating their use.

What will it mean?The Directive creates the framework for spatial information to be collected, stored, manipulated and made available in a more standardised electronic environment to facilitate the sharing of information.

When fully implemented it will, theoretically, enable data from one Member State to be seamlessly combined cross-border with data from all other States. This is particularly important for activities relating to the environment such as planning, pollution control, environmental protection and climate change issues.Although the INSPIRE Directive does not directly refer to e-Government, it will potentially establish one of the most powerful set of pan European government (i.e. public) electronic services. It will also be one of the largest data infrastructures providing access to a huge range of (spatial) data on a national and pan European scale.


Who will be the users of INSPIRE?Governments at all levels (EU, National, Regional and Local) will be major users of the infrastructure for policy-making, implementation and monitoring.

It is expected that businesses will exploit the information for commercial use and as part of services that they supply to the public sector.

Academics and researchers (see below).

The Public will make more and more use of spatial information, especially through the viewing services, as will non-governmental and community organisations.

What and whose Spatial Data?The Directive applies to spatial data held by or on behalf of public authorities.‘public authority’ means:(a) any government or other public administration, including public advisory bodies, at national, regional or local level;(b) any natural or legal person performing public administrative functions under national law, including specific duties, activities or services in relation to the environment; and(c) any natural or legal person having public responsibilities or functions, or providing public services relating to the environment under the control of a body or person falling within (a) or (b). (Article 3.9)

The Directive covers spatial data sets which fulfil the following conditions:(a) they relate to an area where a Member State has and/or exercises jurisdictional rights;(b) they are in electronic format;

Spatial data is defined as data with a direct (e.g. grid coordinates) or indirect reference (e.g. place name, postcode) to a specific location or geographic area. This is a wider scope than is normal in most SDIs to date.

UK Universities are considered to be a public authority in the context of the implementation of the Directive as the INSPIRE Regulations adopted the definition of ‘ public authority’ used in the Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation. In practice, as UK HFE is subject to FoI regulations, it is subject to INSPIRE.


What and whose Spatial Data?(c) they are held by or on behalf of any of the following:(i) a public authority, having been produced or received by a public authority, or being managed or updated by that authority and falling within the scope of its public tasks;(ii) a third party to whom the network has been made available in accordance with Article 12;(d) they relate to one or more of the themes listed in Annex I, II or III. (Article 4.2)

Article 12 statesMember States shall ensure that public authorities are given the technical possibility to link their spatial data sets and services to the network referred to in Article 11(1) i.e. the infrastructure.

It goes on to to say:

This service shall also be made available upon request to third parties whose spatial data sets and services comply with implementing rules [explained below] laying down obligations with regard, in particular, to metadata, network services and interoperability.

The Commission has consistently argued that it is a fundamental right for third parties to have access to the member state and pan European infrastructures3 . This means that the infrastructure should be available to, say, a UK academic spatial data infrastructure (as both consumer and supplier), providing academic data sets and services comply with the implementing rules. The same document later states

“Public authorities – affected by the INSPIRE Directive- have an ‘obligation’ to become part of the ‘network’, whereas third parties can make a ‘request’ to be part of it. Such a request shall be granted if the third party can meet the INSPIRE requirements.”

3 Report of the workshop on the Legislative Transposition of the INSPIRE Directive 2007/2/EC, 17 April 2008.


What and whose Spatial Data?In cases where multiple identical copies of the same spatial data set are held by or on behalf of various public authorities, this Directive shall apply only to the reference version from which the various copies are derived. (Article 4.2)

INSPIRE covers 34 Spatial Data Themes laid down in 3 Annexes (Annex I, II or III) (see end of this document).

The environment will be the first area to be covered but INSPIRE will eventually extend to other themes such as agriculture and transport.

This is an important clause. It means that, for example, EDINA would (should) not be asked by the UK Government to provide access to its copies of the Ordnance Survey data or hydrographic data etc. because our copies are copies of the reference version, not the reference versions themselves. However, it is not clear whether, if EDINA (or Mimas) derived a product from these data, we would be required to make this derived version available.

Note that at time of writing, the UK LP (and by implication the pracitcal manifestation of INSPIRE), has no definitive position on resolving the ‘golden copy’ issue, instead leaving it data providers to determine amongst themselves which versions they regard as authoritative. Whilst a pragmatic approach in a situation where there is no governance structure in place to impose authoritative ruling, this potentially means that multiple versions of the same (or similar) datasets can/may (and likely will) exist.

Although the datasets have an environmental bias, the inclusion of the critical underlying geographic reference information means that they will be useful across many academic disciplines. The data are key reference data sets for research and teaching.


What are the elements of INSPIRE?The INSPIRE Directive defines the technical elements of an infrastructure for spatial information to be comprised of “metadata, spatial data sets and spatial data services, network services and technologies; agreements on sharing, access and use; coordination and monitoring mechanisms, processes and procedures” (INSPIRE Directive Article 3.1).It is very important to understand that in INSPIRE ALL access to spatial data and metadata occurs via spatial data services and that the implementation platform for these services will be standards based web services. The Directive requires that Member States shall establish and operate a network of the following services for the spatial data sets and services for which metadata have been created in accordance with this Directive:(a) discovery services making it possible to search for spatial data sets and services on the basis of the content of the corresponding metadata and to display the content of the metadata;(b) view services making it possible, as a minimum, to display, navigate, zoom in/out, pan, or overlay viewable spatial data sets and to display legend information and any relevant content of metadata; [i.e. to view the data as maps and other types of visualisations](c) download services, enabling copies of spatial data sets, or parts of such sets, to be downloaded and, where practicable, accessed directly;(d) transformation services, enabling spatial data sets to be transformed with a view to achieving interoperability;


What and whose Spatial Data?Data product specifications will be created for each theme, starting with those in Annex 1.

Data and metadata published for INSPIRE must meet INSPIRE metadata and data interoperability standards.

It is important to realise that INSPIRE is very much about interoperability and, as far is practicable, harmonisation of spatial data sets and services within Europe, not just access to data.

A data product specification is a detailed description of a data set together with additional information that will enable it to be created, supplied to and used by another party [ISO 19131]. Harmonised data product specifications, are a set of data product specifications that support the provision of access to interoperable spatial data through spatial data services in a representation that allows for combining it with other interoperable data in a coherent way, e.g. combining data across themes or across borders.

The curent list of Data Product Specifications can be found at:http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.cfm/pageid/6/init/1?category=3


What are the elements of INSPIRE?The INSPIRE Directive defines the technical elements of an infrastructure for spatial information to be comprised of “metadata, spatial data sets and spatial data services, network services and technologies; agreements on sharing, access and use; coordination and monitoring mechanisms, processes and procedures” (INSPIRE Directive Article 3.1).

It is very important to understand that in INSPIRE ALL access to spatial data and metadata occurs via spatial data services and that the implementation platform for these services will be standards based web services.

The Directive requires that

Member States shall establish and operate a network of the following services for the spatial data sets and services for which metadata have been created in accordance with this Directive:

(a) discovery services making it possible to search for spatial data sets and services on the basis of the content of the corresponding metadata and to display the content of the metadata;

(b) view services making it possible, as a minimum, to display, navigate, zoom in/out, pan, or overlay viewable spatial data sets and to display legend information and any relevant content of metadata; [i.e. to view the data as maps and other types of visualisations]

(c) download services, enabling copies of spatial data sets, or parts of such sets, to be downloaded and, where practicable, accessed directly;

This in essence is the definition of an SDI. Sometimes refreed to as an Information Infsratructure (as in the UK LP’s UK Location Information Infrastrcuture (UKLII)).

This is very different to, say, FOI or EIR, where information is provided by public authorities, in response to requests for information, as written responses in either letters or emails.

What this does not make very clear is the critical role of Transformation Services (d). The Directive states that

Spatial data sets shall be made available in conformity with the implementing rules either through the adaptation of existing spatial data sets or through the transformation services referred to point (d) of Article 11(1).

Originally it was thought that Transformation Services would provide services for coordinate transformation i.e. transform the data from one spatial reference system to another. However, it has become clear that, because the Directive does not require a data producing or data custodian organisation to adapt their data production workflows, the only way data harmonisation will beachieved, for the majority of existing data sets which will have their own conceptual schemas, will be through the deployment of transformation services that can take the data and transform it from one (local) schema to that defined by the data product specification for that theme.


What are the elements of INSPIRE?(d) transformation services, enabling spatial data sets to be transformed with a view to achieving interoperability;

(e) services allowing spatial data services to be invoked. (Article 11).

An INSPIRE Technical Architecture has been developed (see overview diagram at the end of this document) which follows SOA principles.

In addition to the service types requested by the Directive, further services are needed to run the infrastructure. A key service type is registries.

INSPIRE GeoRM services are also proposed to manage the different kinds of rights (legal, business contracts, access) between applications and the INSPIRE infrastructure. Examples of GeoRM service functions are authentication, authorization, pricing, billing and licensing. Current (June 2010) practices on security/GeoRM is reviewed here:http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/documents/Network_Services/geoRM-BE.pdf

That is, it is schema transformation services that are to be used to oproduce the data harmonisation that will lead to a pan-European, interoperable infrastructure.

Invoke Spatial Service Services, amongst other things, refers to the ability to invoke other services e.g. to chain services together through web service orchestration engines a.k.a. “workflow engine”.

INSPIRE maintains it sown registry (the UK LP is consodering maintaining a supplmentray UK specifc registry to mange UK-centric concepts). The INSPIRE Registry is used for the development of the INSPIRE Implementing Rules by the INSPIRE Drafting Teams, Thematic Working Groups for data specifications for the testing of the draft data specifications, and other participants in the consultation process. As such, the Registry does not represent a final consolidated version and the content, functionality and access are subject to change to capture the development of the INSPIRE Implementing Rules. Currently the INSPIRE registry contains the INSPIRE Glossary and Feature Concept Dictionary registers which are part of the ongoing process of the INSPIRE Implementing Rules development and built upon the data specification development framework requirements and recommendations. The main goals of the current registers are:


What are the elements of INSPIRE?

Accompanying the Directive will be a series of technical Implementing Rules (IRs) on metadata; data product specifications; network services; data and service sharing; and monitoring and reporting.

1.to start building the INSPIRE Glossary and the INSPIRE Feature Concept Dictionary with the currently available information, and

2.to allow their immediate use in the INSPIRE Implementing Rules and data specifications development. The INSPIRE Glossary and Feature Concept Dictionary are maintained as an ISO 19135 (Procedures for item registration) conformant register. The INSPIRE registry is available for public view. Registered users however, involved in the INSPIRE Implementing Rules development, have access to additional functionality.

The most recent (at June 2010) of the IRs are:

Metadata INSPIRE Metadata Implementing Rules: Technical Guidelines based on EN ISO 19115 and EN ISO 19119 (Version 1.2) 16.06.2010

Data SpecificationsINSPIRE Data Specifications on Addresses - Guidelines v 3.0.1 03.05.2010 • INSPIRE Data Specification on Protected Sites -

Guidelines v 3.1.0 03.05.2010 • INSPIRE Data Specification on Administrative Units -

Guidelines v3.0.1 03.05.2010 • INSPIRE Data Specification on Cadastral Parcels -

Guidelines v 3.0.1 03.05.2010• INSPIRE Specification on Geographical Grid Systems -

Guidelines v 3.0.1 03.05.2010


What are the elements of INSPIRE?• INSPIRE Data Specification on Hydrography - Guidelines

v 3.0.1 03.05.2010 • INSPIRE Data Specification on Transport Networks -

Guidelines v 3.1 03.05.2010 • INSPIRE Specification on Coordinate Reference Systems

- Guidelines v 3.1 03.05.2010 • INSPIRE Data Specification on Geographical Names -

Guidelines v 3.0.1 03.05.2010

Network Services

• Draft Implementing Rules for Download Services (Version 3.0) 25/09/2009

• Draft Implementing Rules for INSPIRE Transformation Services (Version 3.0) 07/09/2009

Data and service sharing

Legislation• Regulation on INSPIRE Data and Service Sharing

29.03.2010

Guidance Documents• INSPIRE Good practice in data and service sharing

01.06.2010


What is its current status?The Directive identifies what needs to be achieved. It was adopted on the 15th May 2007 and enacted into UK law as the INSPIRE Regulations on 31st December 2009. To ensure that the spatial data infrastructures of the Member States are compatible and usable in a Community and transboundary context, the Directive requires that common Implementing Rules (IR) are adopted in a number of specific areas.

Implementing Rules are adopted as Commission Decisions, and are binding in their entirety. The Commission is assisted in the process of adopting such rules by a regulatory committee composed by representatives of the Member States and European Parliament. The committee is chaired by a representative of the Commission (this is known as the Comitology procedure). The committee was established within three months from the entry in force of the Directive.

Implementing Rules will be adopted in a phased manner with compliance required between 2010 and 2019. It is expected that the infrastructure will be fully in place by 2019/20.

Five Drafting Teams (metadata, data specifications, network services, data and service sharing, monitoring and reporting) were established and are working on the development of the IRs. These teams are comprised of international experts and include some academics.

Participation in the drafting of these rules was open to organisations with an interest and could be at different levels. They can propose to organise or be part of a community with interests in spatial data for particular uses (Spatial Data Interest Communities – SDICs); they can register as a legally mandated organisation (LMO); they can propose experts to participate in drafting teams working on the preparation of the detailed implementing rules. A number of UK organisations registered to be SDICS and LMOs.

See http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2009/uksi_20093157_en_1andhttp://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2009/ssi_20090440_en_1

There are very few academics involved in SDICS. The University of Münster, Germany, and the Institute for Photogrammetry, University of Stuttgart are SDICs in their own right, while the University of Freiburg is a LMO. AGILE, a pan European association for university based geographic information laboratories is a registered SDIC, but its engagement to date has been limited.

EDINA is a registered SDIC.

As far as we can tell, there is no other UK academic representation in the UK SDICs or LMOs. (National Soil Resources Institute, at Cranfield University, is a SDIC but this is because soils appear in Annex III.)


What is happening in the UK?The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the UK policy lead department on INSPIRE via the UK Location Programme.UK Location is a UK pan-government initiative to improve the sharing and re-use of public sector location information.Established following the publication of the UK Location Strategy, it incorporates the implementation of the strategy INSOIRE. Coordination is through the Location Council and its associated committes and working groups omn which Universities are represented (see below).

The UK Location blueprint is a high level vision for implementation and, in essence, provides a policy framework to guide implementation. It was developed with stakeholders from the INSPIRE Working Group and UK based members of the Implementing Rule Drafting Teams.

Each data provider will be responsible for making its “INSPIRE” data available via network services (discovery, view, download, transformation and invoke spatial data services). Data providers will be responsible for the costs of ensuring their data complies with the INSPIRE metadata and data interoperability standards and making their data available via network services.

Implementation of INSPIRE in the UK will deliver a step change in data management, data interoperability and data sharing across the public sector.


Will we have to pay to access and use the data?“Member States should …make available, as a minimum and free of charge, the services for discovering and, subject to certain specific conditions, viewing spatial data sets.”

Initially, the Directive obliged all EC Governments to make the data available free to all public sector bodies. It also guaranteed the right of the public to view this data for free. However, a small number of member state governments, including the UK Government, objected to providing free access to the information and so amendments were made making the data subject to charges, if fees would normally have been levied.

Therefore, under the current wording of the Directive, access to the data and the right to republish it are not free of cost. Even view services can be charged for.

“Public authorities may license and/or charge other public authorities and Community institutions provided that:

• It is compatible with the objective to facilitate sharing between public authorities.

• It is restricted to the minimum necessary to ensure sustained availability and quality of the data and services.”

Ideally therefore, public authorities would just recover their marginal costs. There are many lobby groups seeking to amend the Directive to secure free-of-cost geospatial data but at this stage it looks unlikely that this will be achieved. Organisations, such as Ordnance Survey, have played a central role in pressing to retain charging for data and, in turn, their commercial position.

Where charging occurs, it is at the public authority level, not at the point of use.

Researchers could find themselves in the strange position of getting data free from one country but paying for a similar type of data in another country.


Will we have to pay to access and use the data?Interestingly, the commission stated in April that free public access for discovery and view (through network services), was not just limited to only those data sets covered by the INSPIRE Directive Annexes I, II, III which are classified as “environmental information”, but “shall be granted (taking account of eventual derogations and emissions related obligations) to all data sets falling under the scope of the INSPIRE Directive”4.

The IR on Data and Service Sharing proposes 3 types of model licences: a Basic INSPIRE Licence, a Specific INSPIRE Licence and a Framework INSPIRE Agreement. The “basic INSPIRE licence” is an agreement on the basis of which access to the spatial data sets and services to Community Institutions and Bodies is provided without any further restrictions or conditions.

The Specific INSPIRE Licence takes the form of a Model Licence to be completed and customized in relation to the access to a particular data set or service. A framework INSPIRE agreement is an upstream agreement concluded between a Community Institution or Body and one or more public authorities or Member States, possibly regarding multiple datasets or services.

In the UK, the aim is for data licensing/charging policy to be simplified/streamlined to support data sharing. According to the Defra INSPIRE implementation blueprint (v4 Nov 2009).

Current licensing models and initiatives that will be supported by the Rights Management Architecture

include:

• the Office of Public Sector Information‟s (OPSI) Click-Use licensing framework (including

Information Fair Trader Scheme accreditation);

• INSPIRE implementing rules for governing access and rights of use of spatial data sets and

services [18]; and

• the Atlantis Initiative‟s Pricing & Licensing Task Force‟s work developing standardised Public

Body Licensing Principles.



Will we have to pay to access and use the data?The Rights Management Architecture will build on key aspects of the above licensing models andinitiatives in order to work towards the harmonised sharing of data among public sector bodies (andpreferably all data providers).

The Rights Management Architecture will seek to address derivative or residual rights in productsproduced from original source data.

Where necessary, data providers may continue to use a licensing model based on their specific termsof access and use.

A streamlined licence framework will be designed to protect copyright and/or database rights, but tofacilitate re-use under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations. The licencing model wilutilise existing licence models developed by OPSI.


What are the general problems we should know about?Recall that INSPIRE is supposed to be built on Member State SDIs. However, 1) the UK does not currently have a formal, integrated SDI although existing initiatives could potentially contribute to an SDI; 2) creating an SDI requires a GI strategy and again, the UK does not currently have one (more on this below); 3) implementing a strategy requires governance and co-ordination but no single UK Government department has the lead on geospatial information.

Defra has been given the role to lead the transposition but questions have been raised about whether they were the right organisation.

The swelling interest in data.gov.uk has lead to a decision by the Location Council to integrate the activities of the UKLP with data.gov.uk in order to set location information within the wider context of Public Sector Information. This poses some risks as the intersection of the two initiatives is still ill-defined and culturally are somehat antagonistic.

A recent ‘gateway’ review by the Office of governmet Computing notes that ‘The Programme is at a pivotal point in its lifecycle. ‘ It further noted that as a matter of urgency governence and stakeholder engagemnet needed to be addressed.

At time of writing a new governance structure is being proposed that will delineate the new roles and reposnsibilities between Defra, the Cabinet Office (which is assuming a broader data publisihing remit enshrined in data.gov.uk) and the Ordnance Survey (which has been tasked by government to undertake key implementation work).


What are the general problems we should know about?The implementation of INSPIRE within the UK is to be done under the governance of the UK Location Strategy. Thus the Location Strategy is the vehicle for implementing both INSPIRE and the UK SDI.

The involvement of higher education in the Location strategy was minimal. Indeed, it is reported that the geospatial data needs of the academic sector were out of scope for the strategy.

In June 2006, the UK GI Panel5 announced that it had commissioned the consultancy Know Edge Ltd to undertake the research work to develop a GI Strategy. After lengthy consultation, Place Matters: The Location Strategy for the United Kingdom was submitted to Baroness Andrews, Minister responsible for the GI Panel in October 2007. Very few people saw the final document before submission.

Baroness Andrews then reviewed the Strategy and on 17 December 2007 said that she hoped to be able to publish the Strategy “in a few weeks time”. The rpeort was finally published on 25th November 2008.

Only 4 academics contributed to the Location Strategy. However, none of the academics were consulted with respect to academia, rather with respect to their area of expertise (e.g. policy, technical knowledge). There is no academic representation on the GI Panel. (“Even the GI Panel themselves comment that there’s no academic representation --and that they have no plans to change this…”6.)

In the UK, a Location Council was set up (replacing the GI Panel) which acts as the governing body for both the UK Location Strategy and INSPIRE. The Location Council is led by Defra.

5 The GI Panel was formed by the UK Government to focus on medium to long term issues relating to geographic information, encourage more effective, extensive and systematic use of geographic information and provide regular short reports to Ministers. Membership of the panel was intended to ensure broad representation of key interest groups in government, the private sector and the wider Geographic Information industry across the United Kingdom.

6 Reported in a presentation by Michael J McCullagh “GI Standards in the UK: A Personal View”, Dec 2006.


What are the general problems we should know about?

Concern has been expressed in the past at the ‘top down’ nature of the current process in UK believing it would be better if more ‘bottom up’ involvement could be encouraged. Much of the focus has been on the providers of data to the SDI. There appears to have been very little consultation with end users.

There is also concern about the maturity, stability or direct applicability of the International standards and specifications under consideration. It has been proposed that the Network Services implementing rules define the expected functionality of services as independent as possible from technological progress, generic enough to adapt to a changing environment, and therefore ensure their long term fitness for purpose.

In September 2008, Defra wrote at a ministerial level to DIUS, amongst other departments, to ask for its support for the Location Strategy, with a request for financial support in order to get a seat a seat on the Council. DIUS had some reservations. EDINA and JISC worked to persuade DIUS of the importance of the UK SDI for UK academia.

Ultimately a shortfall in fibnacial contributions towards implementation of the Stratgey led to the situation where sector inoput provided ‘in-kind’ contribution to the UKLP. The Research Councils now have a representative on the Location Council (Richard Hughes, Nerc, BGS) and representation on the Location Information Interoperability Board (LIIB). The latter body now (after JISC petitioning) also has a seat on the LIIB. Contributions are voluntary and unpaid (although the core UKLP has its own internal finances for maintaining a core staff and scretariat).

The first UK Location User Group was held in May 2010 with the next scheduled for Spetmber. The LUG forms one aspect of the UKLP commincatiosn strategy which includes roadshows, Newsletters and advice and support to Early Adopters.

The immaturity of some of the IRs and issues unearthed as part of initial attempts at implementation have led to a raft of revisions to technical gudiance documents and in some areas (specifcally, the Metadata guidelines) fundamental issues with the standards will need to be addressed ‘prgamatically’ at MS level.


What has been the involvement of universities in general in INSPIRE.Nether research or education is explicitly mentioned in the Directive. However, the benefits to universities was recognised in the original proposal for the Directive which stated “other user groups are also expected to benefit, including the private sector, universities, researchers and the media” (p.3)7.

Universities are only indirectly mentioned in the work plan for the implementation with respect to awareness raising, capacity building and change of management practices, and support to education and training initiatives related to INSPIRE.

There are no special Spatial Data Interest Communities (aside from EDINA) related to education and there are very few people involved from the educational sector in the technical development of the Implementation Rules. In part this reflects the fact that there was no financial support from the commission.

It is unfortunately the case that in the majority of member state SDIs there are very few cases where consideration of research and education has been an explicit part of the SDI process.

The UK is dealt with specifically below. But, in summary, we conclude that academia should be a key stakeholder in the UK SDI and INSPIRE, possibly as data contributors, but most certainly as users.

What will it mean?Whilst academic establishments such as universities are covered by the definition of public authority it is unlikely that much of the geospatial data they hold would come under INSPIRE in the first instance. Geospatial data sets held by the research councils are more likely to come under INSPIRE.

However, there are two caveats to this. First, as the focus shifts from the data in the first two annexes to the third, it is possible that data held within universities might come within scope e.g. species distribution, habitats, atmospheric conditions. Second, studies of environmental change require an understanding of how phenomena change over time. This requires access to historic data and

Data curation is poorly practised by other public authorities so it is possible that the only copies of earlier versions of certain geospatial data sets are held by academic researchers.

7 Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL establishing an infrastructure for spatial information in the Community (INSPIRE) SEC(2004) 980.


What will it mean?earlier editions of data which may be held only by universities (or rather researchers and research teams within universities). In both cases, Universities will be required to make these data available. As the Commission stated “Whether or not a data set falls under the INSPIRE obligations does not depend on the scale, the specificity of the data sets, or the level of government involved in their management. When the data sets, at any level of government, are relevant for developing, implementing or monitoring laws or regulations which may have an impact on the environment, INSPIRE obligations should apply. Such conditions could equally apply to data sets collected by a research project activity as the INSPIRE Directive makes no distinction between ‘operational’ and ‘research’ data sets. INSPIRE could be considered a positive incentive to safeguard valuable research data sets after the ending of a project.” 8.

The Commission also stated in April 2008 that it is “a fundamental right of third parties to enrich the European Spatial Data Infrastructure with data sets currently hidden or difficult to find”.

What does it mean for Universities and Colleges as Users?Academics and researchers in a wide range of fields are likely to benefit directly by easier access to data facilitated by the Directive.

Over the last decade, the vast majority of collection development expenditure by JISC and the research councils has focused on the UK and on core reference data sets. Much UK research and teaching is about places outside the UK. Researchers can face real difficultly in getting access to geospatial data in other countries, particularly Europe. The ability to make seamless connections across the wide range of data types and thematic areas will, as well as reducing the barriers to accessing data, will also open up new opportunities for understanding all kinds of change processes and enable national and international comparisons.

The establishment of national SDIs, which together will form the European SDI, will further facilitate improved access to spatial data at a national level too. This is particularly important within the UK, where access has been particularly problematic.



Are there other roles for UK academia?The UK academic sector can make a significant contribution to the implementation of the UK SDI and INSPIRE in general in the following ways

• through the knowledge and expertise it has in providing on-line geospatial services (from MIMAS and EDINA specifically but also JISC in general) and data management practices,

• through its involvement with the standards bodies and projects conducted in the use of open geospatial standards,

• its awareness of the latest research through academics who are working in the field of geomatics,

• with respect to awareness raising, • capacity building (e.g. the sharing of the practical knowledge that has been

gained through the R&D that has been conducted on e-infrastructures and GRID),

• through the provision of web processing services,• its expertise in access management e.g. the UK Access Management Federation

and SDSS, and• support for education and training.

The need for training of the GI community to implement (components of) INSPIRE has already been indentified and is something that academia could provide. Likewise there is a need to train the end-users of spatial data and related information.

Key to implementing INSPIRE over the coming years will be skills development, both among geographic professionals and other professional groups who use spatial information or support its use.

EDINA is one of the leaders in the area of geospatial services in the UK; and much of its work is relevant to the implementation of INSPIRE. For example, EDINA’s work on catalogues and registries (data and web services), its community profile of ISO 19115 for academia, the online metadata tool for creating 19115 metadata (GeoDoc), its use of open geospatial standards in its services.

With respect to INSPIRE more generally, EDINA is Chair of the UKLP Metadata Working Group and has representation on the LIIB and various other WGs. It has developed the Scottish Discovery Metdata Portal (now a UK LP Pilot) and has provided Ordnance Survey with the software customisations to the open source software being adopted by UKLP in order to bootstrap OS’s obligations under INSPIRE.


Finally, what are some of the issues we should be concerned about from UK academia’s view point?• Representation and engagementWhilst academic involvement with the UKLP and INSPIRE has improved since 2008 with represnettaion on the location council (research) and the uivneristy sector on the LIIB, broader engagement by the wider academic sector remians piecemeal and lacks coherence. The potential for a coordinating group under the auspi ces of GWG could be explored providing an awareness rasing and selh-help ethos towards wider readiness within the sector for dealing with INSPIRE obligations.

• Impact on JISC servicesThere is the potential for the UK SDI to impact on the services currently funded by JISC, particularly where data currently provided by, for example Digimap, becomes available from another public authority or from an organisation on behalf of a public authority e.g. Ordnance Survey, UK Hydrographic Office. For example, OS might stand up a set of view and data download services. This needs further consideration, not least it is important for us to understand the position of academia with respect to INSPIRE as it relates to charging.

On the other hand, and as mentioned above, the Commission has made it clear that they see it as a fundamental right for third parties to have access to the member state and pan European infrastructures. This means that the UK SDI, and other infrastructures making up the European SDI should be available to a UK academic spatial infrastructure, making a large number of geospatial data sets available for research and use in education. Indeed, the UK academic spatial data infrastructure might be a part of a European wide academic spatial data infrastructure.


Links to relevant documents and web sites

The INSPIRE Directive http://www.ec-gis.org/inspire/Directive/l_10820070425en00010014.pdf

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing an infrastructure for spatial information in the Community (INSPIRE) http://www.ec-gis.org/inspire/proposal/EN.pdf

The European INSPIRE Portal at JRChttp://inspire.jrc.it

INSPIRE in the UK – Intra-governmental Group on Geographic Information (IGGI)http://www.iggi.gov.uk/initiatives.php (Click on Green Arrow to display INSPIRE related information)


INSPIRE Spatial Data Scope

Annex I

1. Coordinate reference systems2. Geographical grid systems3. Geographical names4. Administrative units5. Addresses6. Cadastral parcels7. Transport networks8. Hydrography9. Protected sites

Annex II

1. Elevation2. Land cover3. Identifiers of properties4. Ortho-imagery (Aerial Photography)5. Geology

Annex III

1. Statistical units2. Buildings3. Soil4. Land use5. Human health and safety6. Utility and governmental services7. Environmental monitoring facilities8. Production and industrial facilities9. Agricultural and aquaculture facilities10. Population distribution –demography11. Area management/restriction/regulation zones & reporting units12. Natural risk zones13. Atmospheric conditions14. Meteorological geographical features15. Oceanographic geographical features16. Sea regions17. Bio-geographical regions18. Habitats and biotopes19. Species distribution20. Energy Resources21. Mineral resources

the eu inspire directive: an infrastructure for spatial information in the european community

Technology

available spatial data

activities of spatial

sharing of spatial information

broader range of spatial

spatial data inan efficient

data sharing

data interoperability

uk sdi