Preparing the National INSPIRE Days

Introduction
Summary The international INSPIRE Days workshop was organised by the Joint Research Centre as a follow-up of a preparatory national event, and provided opportunities for: mapping the state of the play of NSDI development and their relation to INSPIRE in the involved countries; detecting good practices and highlighting significant achievements reached in the new EU Member States, Acceding and Candidate Countries; reminding cross-references between the INSPIRE and e-Government; transferring knowledge between different user groups and networking cross Europe; turning attention to diversified needs and roles of different INSPIRE stakeholders and users; and contributing with the workshop findings and recommendations to the INSPIRE awareness raising. Aims and context This international JRC Enlargement and Integration workshop (IES-W18) focused on preparing future National INSPIRE Information Days, and enlarging the spectrum of INSPIRE community. It was held at the Joint Research Centre, Ispra in September 2006 and brought together 47 participants from 19 countries and the European Commission. The workshop aimed to reinforce involvement of the New EU Member States (NMSs) and Acceding Countries (ACs), and connections to other communities under-represented in the INSPIRE development process recently (e-Government, local governments). The Policy Area was defined mainly by the Proposal for a Directive on Establishing of an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the Community (INSPIRE) COM (2004) 516, and the Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information. Participants There were two main groups of participants. The first one created by representatives of NMSs and ACs that should play leading roles for INSPIRE future implementation and had expressed their interest to support the organization of future National Information Days. These were often high level officials/managers responsible for SDI coordination, and INSPIRE development. The experts creating the second group were invited to represent different international networks and non-governmental organizations (e.g. AGILE, AGISEE, EUROGI, GI Norden, EUROCITIES), which were expected to transfer knowledge and help bridging gaps between different user groups. The participants came from Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Synopsis In the first session, the DG JRC and EUROSTAT speakers informed about the progress and main up-dates according the INSPIRE development and co-decision process. This introductory part was followed by a sessions devoted to a preparatory national event, which had taken place in Prague (Czech Republic) in March 2006 and was co-organized by JRC, Nemoforum, CENIA and other Czech partners. The structure and outcomes of the previous Czech INSPIRE Days were introduced in the first morning of the workshop. To illustrate their multi-users approach several practical examples of SDIs (thematic, regional and local, cross-border) and the INSPIRE compliancy were presented. A large part of the workshop was focused on the presentations from particular countries or user groups. The invited experts were required to elaborate and introduce presentations of the countries or communities they were representing. The presentations structure considered the NSDI state-of-play in the context of INSPIRE, and results and recommendations regarding INSPIRE awareness rising. This approach enabled comparison of the state of the art; priorities and strategies used in the NMSs, ACs and CCs, and identified common issues to be addressed. In addition, the presentations contributed to updating the SDIs in Europe survey for the year 2006. It also helped detecting good practices, as the SDI cost assessment in Lithuania. Practical examples from several countries demonstrated possible correspondence between the recent infrastructures used by public authorities and INSPIRE. The final part of the workshop was devoted to a brainstorming session and different awareness rising and communication channels options were proposed and discussed. The participants debated the role of national and international organisations in the INSPIRE process, and the ways of presenting INSPIRE to the potential user communities. They proposed recommendations for organising future national INSPIRE Days.

Introduction

Summary

The international INSPIRE Days workshop was organised by the Joint Research Centre as a follow-up of a preparatory national event, and provided opportunities for:

mapping the state of the play of NSDI development and their relation to INSPIRE in the involved countries;
detecting good practices and highlighting significant achievements reached in the new EU Member States, Acceding and Candidate Countries;
reminding cross-references between the INSPIRE and e-Government;
transferring knowledge between different user groups and networking cross Europe;
turning attention to diversified needs and roles of different INSPIRE stakeholders and users;
and contributing with the workshop findings and recommendations to the INSPIRE awareness raising.

Aims and context

This international JRC Enlargement and Integration workshop (IES-W18) focused on preparing future National INSPIRE Information Days, and enlarging the spectrum of INSPIRE community. It was held at the Joint Research Centre, Ispra in September 2006 and brought together 47 participants from 19 countries and the European Commission. The workshop aimed to reinforce involvement of the New EU Member States (NMSs) and Acceding Countries (ACs), and connections to other communities under-represented in the INSPIRE development process recently (e-Government, local governments). The Policy Area was defined mainly by the Proposal for a Directive on Establishing of an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the Community (INSPIRE) COM (2004) 516, and the Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information.

Participants

There were two main groups of participants. The first one created by representatives of NMSs and ACs that should play leading roles for INSPIRE future implementation and had expressed their interest to support the organization of future National Information Days. These were often high level officials/managers responsible for SDI coordination, and INSPIRE development. The experts creating the second group were invited to represent different international networks and non-governmental organizations (e.g. AGILE, AGISEE, EUROGI, GI Norden, EUROCITIES), which were expected to transfer knowledge and help bridging gaps between different user groups. The participants came from Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

Synopsis

In the first session, the DG JRC and EUROSTAT speakers informed about the progress and main up-dates according the INSPIRE development and co-decision process. This introductory part was followed by a sessions devoted to a preparatory national event, which had taken place in Prague (Czech Republic) in March 2006 and was co-organized by JRC, Nemoforum, CENIA and other Czech partners. The structure and outcomes of the previous Czech INSPIRE Days were introduced in the first morning of the workshop. To illustrate their multi-users approach several practical examples of SDIs (thematic, regional and local, cross-border) and the INSPIRE compliancy were presented.

A large part of the workshop was focused on the presentations from particular countries or user groups. The invited experts were required to elaborate and introduce presentations of the countries or communities they were representing. The presentations structure considered the NSDI state-of-play in the context of INSPIRE, and results and recommendations regarding INSPIRE awareness rising. This approach enabled comparison of the state of the art; priorities and strategies used in the NMSs, ACs and CCs, and identified common issues to be addressed. In addition, the presentations contributed to updating the SDIs in Europe survey for the year 2006. It also helped detecting good practices, as the SDI cost assessment in Lithuania. Practical examples from several countries demonstrated possible correspondence between the recent infrastructures used by public authorities and INSPIRE.

The final part of the workshop was devoted to a brainstorming session and different awareness rising and communication channels options were proposed and discussed. The participants debated the role of national and international organisations in the INSPIRE process, and the ways of presenting INSPIRE to the potential user communities. They proposed recommendations for organising future national INSPIRE Days.