The European Location Framework –Deployment of ESDIN ResultsStrategic and Organizational Issues

Antti Jakobsson

EuroGeographics Programmes Manager

Introduction – The ESDIN project

• Collaboration of 20 partners– Data providers– Developers– Academia– Software companies

• Best Practice– Processes– Services– Specifications

• Meeting INSPIRE obligations & extending specifications for pan_European use

ESDIN results

• An understanding of user requirements

• Harmonised specifications for data

• Transformation rules and services

• A comprehensive quality assurance approach, including automation of quality evaluation services

• Generalisation rules and services

• A modular approach to pricing and licensing and a Geo Product Finder

• A more efficient way of gaining access to the data – Federations authenticated by Shibboleth

• Tools for testing the infrastructure

• Proposals and tools to manage maintenance and updates

• A solution to technical architecture.

Understanding the Requirements of Users

• More flexibility to pricing and licensing – open policy for data• Better search and retrieval systems to work with new technology• Harmonization important for organizations working at multinational

level• Consistency of data• Update of data • Trustworthy quality assured data

We have Google Maps already why bother?

Google Map Data & Imagery

Harmonised Specifications for Data

• Profiles of INSPIRE data specifications for master, regional and global level of details

• Subset not containing some of the feature types, optional attributes or relationships, some of the listed values etc.

• Some feature types, attributes, and relationships that are optional in INSPIRE are mandatory

• Extensions based on generalized products EBM, ERM, EGM

• Conformance criteria

• At Master data level no selection criteria set yet

Transformation Rules and Services

•Created a predefine template for description of data and set of transformation constructs

•Common approach for schema transformation & generalisation

•A method for implementing generalisation between larger and small scales

-> various approaches to content transformation can be applied successfully, no single transformation method can be recommended

If national specifications are far from INSPIRE on-the-fly is not a likely solution

A Comprehensive Quality Approach

• Harmonized metadata concepts for discovery and data evaluation purposes

• A common approach for the data quality of master/regional and global level geospatial reference data

• A quality model and measures for the reference information

• A web-based semi-automatic evaluator service concept

• Testing the concept with data providers

Generalisation Rules and Services

•Semi-automation of smaller scales•Prototypes proved in many countries

•Automated Admin Boundaries & built up areas•Updating of hydrography

A Modular approach to Pricing and licensing – The Geo Product Finder

The current metadata approach does not workPolicy and licensing is hard to harmonize-> Geo Product Finder

1. Select geographical area and theme-------->

2. Browse and select relevant dataset->

3. Determine license- >Usage -> Access-> Format-> Result

Gaining Access to Data

If Data is not fully open-> a solution for access control is needed-> Federated Access Control using Sibboleth

Testing the Infrastructure

Automated test components for spatial data, network services and data production processes

The management of Maintenance and Update

• Edge-matching between datasets at trans-national level

• Stable Unique-Identifiers

• Incremental change management

How to be INSPIREd by ESDIN?

The European Location Framework GOALS

• The concept of reference data –concentrate on the main business of the public sector

• Work together with other players to create the infrastructure

• Concentrate on one reference data layer at regional level and derive small scale from it

• Large scale reference data based on NMCAs distributed services

• Create tools for NMCAs to provide the data; transformation; edge-matching; quality; generalization, security

• Build the reference data that others can rely on (UIDs, quality)

• Align other thematic data like ECRINS with it

• Make data policy and licensing work

• Build the community

The European Location Framework concept

The European Location Framework (ELF) is based on set of specifications for reference data which provides information about places and features on the Earth’s surface to allow other information about that place or feature to be connected to it. These specifications supports interoperability across resolutions, themes and between countries for topographic, administrative and cadastral reference data.

When adopted by data providers ELF provides INSPIRE compliant data for Europe. It creates a new approach for Pan-European reference data based on services from National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies possible through National Spatial Data Infrastructures

User requirements are very important for ELF. The European key users European Commission, EuroStat, EEA, Frontex are considered as well as directives like PSI, European programmes like GMES and international programmes like GEOSS.

Reference data

Reference datasets are series of datasets that everyone involved with geographic information uses to reference his/her own data as part of their work. They provide a common link between applications and thereby provide a mechanism for sharing knowledge and information amongst people (FGDC, 2005; Rase et al., 2002)• It provides an unambiguous location for a user’s information; • It enables the merging (aggregating/fusing) of data from various

sources;• It provides a geographic framework or context to allow others to

better understand the spatial information that is being presented;• It is subject to a regular data maintenance regime;• It is provided from a authoritative source with a mandate, or

responsibility, for it’s maintenance and availability.

Private Industry will do this, relax!

Reference data

Additional andThematic data

Meeting the user requirement

NMCAs Other governmental agencies

Private industryCartographic industryEO

ServiceIntegrati

on

UserApplication

Reference data

services

Web companies GIS industry”the Cloud”

USERS

Reference data and services are part of the solution!

EG vision on reference data

MembersMasterSources

Admin Hydro Transport Other Topo Addresses Buildings DEM, Landcover, Geographical Names, Ortho, Cadastral Parcels

UrbanRuralRemoteTopo + Cadastre

ExMRegionaldataset

Generalization processConformance testing

Quality Evaluation

ExMGlobal dataset

Edge-matching service (EuroXBoundary)

Generalization processConformance testing

EG+National mappingand cadastralagencies

Reference data services (view,download)

EGN+Addressservice

Quality evaluation service

Joint services

ECRINS

Urban Atlas

Corine Land Cover

GMESReferenceData Service

INSPIRECommissionService

EUGeoportal

GoogleMaps

Yahoo

Point of Interest

Navtech/Teleatlas

SEIS

Registryservices

EuroGeoInfo

CommercialServiceIntegrators

AnnexIII

Additional and Thematic data

Reference dataReference dataServices

ApplicationsService Integration

Themes/ContentThe specifications are appropriate to the following (INSPIRE) data themes:

Administrative Units (AU)

Hydrography (HY)

Transport networks (TN)

Geographical names (GN)

Cadastral parcels (CP)

Addresses (AD)

Elevation (EL)8

Buildings (BD)8

Land Cover (LC)/Land Use (LU)8

Orthoimagery8

And some additional features based on European user requirements (these may be part of INSPIRE Annexes II and III)

The data content inside themes will be depending on the availability of data at the national master data and regional levels. Target content will be set using quality conformance levels.

Will not be included in the first phase of the specification based on ESDIN project

Would it be nice if we would have standard specifications for reference data!

Resolution and Level of Details

Target level of detail

Scale

1:2,500,000

1:1,000,000

1,500,000

1,250,000

1,100,000

1,50,000

1:25,000

1:10,000

1:5,000

1:2,500

Global

Target level of detail

Regional

Master

Urban

Rural

Level of details

Mountainous

Target level of detail

The planned ELF coverage at regional and global level

Not availableAvailable 2011-2014Admin available 2011-2014Admin, EGM available 2011-2014Availability to be agreed

Malta

Note: Administrative theme covers the whole territory of France (including overseas areas), Denmark (including Greenland and Faroe Islands)

What about master levels, NMCAs can never provide this?

29

1:50 000 Topographic Data RASTER 13th Jul 2010

Not available

Coverage 100%

75 – 99%

50 – 79%

25 – 49%

1 – 25%

Source

Scanned maps

Vector database 1:50 000

Other vector data

Malta

S

V

S

S

S

S

V

V

SS

V

OV

V

S

S

V

V

V

V

V

V

V

S

OV

V

OV

SOV

S

S

Linking with other data

The ELF reference data will be linked with other European datasets using identifiers. These include INSPIRE unique identifiers, Official code of LAU unit in administrative units, European statistical region codes (NUTS), hydrographic identifiers, national and European road numbers, railway UIC codes, ICAO and IATA codes for airports, port UN/Locodes, and settlement identifiers.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/nuts_nomenclature/local_administrative_units

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/nuts_nomenclature/introduction

International Union of Railways http://www.uic.org/

International Civil Aviation Organization http://www.icao.int/

The International Air Transport Association www.iata.org

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe http://www.unece.org/cefact/recommendations/rec_index.htm

Quality and metadata

The specifications sets conformance levels for quality and requires suppliers to provide metadata for data discovery and quality evaluation purposes. Quality information and Metadata is INSPIRE and ISO/CEN compliant.

Target levels for completeness and positional accuracy will be set for feature types. Data provided by NMCAs will be classified to different quality levels.

Interoperability processes

Reference data needs number of supporting processes in order to work properly. The ELF will include specifications for

transformation (co-ordinate/model)

edge-matching (cross-border consistency)

quality evaluation and conformance testing

quality management (utilizing accreditation)

generalization

unique identifiers UIDs

incremental updating

access control

data policy/licensing

business processes

service architecture

And do you think this will work for me?

Benefits to the users

Consistency between themes, so that themes can be used together in various resolutions;

Better up-to-dateness and consistency between resolutions. For example feature that is present in master level will be present also in medium/small scales if it should be present according to selection criteria; 

Quality conformance levels and metadata enables users to ensure that their requirements are met;

Maintenance of reference information in user databases. Unique identifiers enable change only updates.

Reference data provision for European users including European Commission, Eurostat, GMES, EEA, Frontex;

Why we should care, we have enough problems nationally?

Benefits to the producers

Cost savings in the national production and maintenance processes of European data;

Common feature type dictionary between resolutions enables use of generalization process in maintenance processes of medium/small scale resolutions which means better up-to-dateness and consistency between resolutions

Help implementing the INSPIRE directive

Implementation of interoperability processes including edge-matching between countries to achieve cross-border consistency, quality evaluation and conformance testing, generalization and transformation services

Increase usage of national data in services, European and global use.

2011 Actions

Discussion paper targeted to NMCAs/EuroGeographics role for panEuropean/cross-border SDI in INSPIRE

Launch of INSPIRE/ELF demonstration service –under EuroGeoForum site (launch at INSPIRE conference?)

Launch of EuroGeographics WMS under EuroGeoInfo site (demonstrating the EGM,ERM,EBM and EuroGeoNames)

Setting up EuroGeographics internal project for ELF

Preparing a proposal for ICT/PSP – Looking for an NMCA to take a lead -> Start of the project in 2012 if succesfull another possibility ICT/PSP 2012 -> 2013 and maybe GMES reference data call in 2011/2012?

Presentations on ESDIN results and ELF at conferences and internal communication between members (GA, regional meetings)

Starting implementation of ESDIN results Generalization EGM from ERM, ERM admin from EBM and EGM admin from EBM

ERM based on ELF specs in 2013

EuroGeoNames based on new architecture and lauch in 2012

Ok show me the money!

Do we want to go ahead?

No EuroGeographics withdraws from the reference data provision

-> use of MS data at pan-European/cross border case will be difficult or nearly impossible

Parallel tracksEuroGeographics continues on pan-European/cross-boder

INSPIRE with member states

-> slow process

ELF/INSPIRE Agreement to co-ordinate pan-

European/cross border activities for INSPIRE

-> Faster process, use of MS data will increase