First Maltese initiative addresses INSPIRE implications

With the aim of consolidating the myriad of existing geographical datasets, the EU has published a directive intended to target data interoperability, data sharing and data discovery of spatial data. Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 14, 2007, establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE), was published in the official journal on April 25. Known as the INSPIRE directive, it entered into force last May.

INSPIRE is now in transposition phase; laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this directive are now in force. Are you a creator or user of any of the datasets listed in the INSPIRE directive? Do you know enough about this directive?

The Malta Association for Geographical Information (MAGI), the Malta Institution of Surveyors (MIoS) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors - Malta (RICS) recognise that INSPIRE will have an impact on the geographic information community in Europe and in Malta.

The three associations view the directive as a fundamental step in the establishment of an infrastructure for spatial information in Malta. For this reason, MAGI, MIoS and RICS Malta, in collaboration with the European Commission Representation in Malta, are hosting a one-day seminar on Thursday at the Westin Dragonara, St Julian's, to address the implications of this directive.

An impressive line-up of speakers from various European and Maltese entities involved in the drafting, implementation and execution of the directive are invited. The European speakers are MEP Frieda Brepoels, Hugo De Groof from the European Commission's Environment Directorate-General, Nick Land from EuroGeographics, and Henning Elmstrom from the Council of European Geodetic Surveyors.

The Maltese speakers include Antoine Zahra and Suzanne Gauci from MEPA, Matthew Gatt from MITTS, and Carol Agius from MAGI. The seminar's welcome address will be delivered by Dr Joanna Drake, Head of European Commission Representation in Malta, while Environment Minister George Pullicino will close the seminar.

Besides presentations from the invited speakers, the event will include a panel debate, open floor discussions and an exhibition of services and products related to geographic information. The event will attract the major stakeholders of geographic information in Malta, be they creators, sellers or users. The seminar is being organised to inform the local stakeholders of INSPIRE about the impact and implications it will have on the industry once it is implemented.

It's all about location. How often have you heard that? Where you live, work, go to school, go for entertainment, where, where, where... Have you stopped to consider that location is more than just where's hot and where's not?

Every event occurs somewhere: a natural phenomenon, an accident, a social or economic event, a service, can all be located on a map.

We live in the information age, where 80 per cent of all information has a spatial (locational or geographical) element. This makes spatial information powerful, a resource and tool that can be used for a variety of purposes by various people and organisations. In fact geographic datasets abound in diverse formats with many organisations in many countries.

The directive targets spatial data because geographic data locates people and events to places. Spatial data are widely used for analysis, modelling and building 'what if' scenarios. Spatial data are an integral component in the good governance of environmental protection, economic and social development, planning and development, and public health and safety.

INSPIRE creates the framework for the sharing of spatial information through what is known as a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) for the purposes of community environmental policies and policies or activities that may have an impact on the environment.

INSPIRE will affect all users of spatial information, the directive refers to 34 spatial data themes, which government and local authorities will be required to create and make accessible through a network service. The general public and commercial users will thus gain standard, though not necessarily free, access to spatial information.

Attendance to the seminar can be registered by e-mail to inspiremalta@gmail.com.