Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community
Encyclopedia
INSPIRE is "an EU initiative to establish an infrastructure for spatial information in Europe that will help to make spatial or geographical information more accessible and interoperable for a wide range of purposes supporting sustainable development".
The INSPIRE directive lays down a general framework for a Spatial Data Infrastructure
(SDI) for the purposes of European Community environmental policies and policies or activities which may have an impact on the environment. The INSPIRE Directive entered into force on May 15, 2007.
INSPIRE is based on the infrastructures for spatial information established and operated by the 27 Member States of the European Union
. The Directive addresses 34 spatial data themes needed for environmental applications.
To ensure that the spatial data infrastructures of the Member States are compatible and usable in a Community and transboundary context, the INSPIRE Directive requires that additional legislation or common Implementing Rules (IR) are adopted for a number of specific areas (Metadata, Interoperability of spatial data sets and services, Network Services, Data and Service Sharing and Monitoring and Reporting). These are published either as Commission Regulations or as Decisions.
The Commission is assisted in the process of adopting such rules by a regulatory committee, INSPIRE Committee, composed of representatives of the Member States and chaired by a representative of the Commission (this is known as the Comitology procedure).
, which allows for discovery and viewing of spatial data sets and services. Its aim is to identify issues related to its implementation and accessing distributed INSPIRE services, to help towards the development of the operational geoportal.
The INSPIRE directive lays down a general framework for a Spatial Data Infrastructure
Spatial Data Infrastructure
A spatial data infrastructure 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...
(SDI) for the purposes of European Community environmental policies and policies or activities which may have an impact on the environment. The INSPIRE Directive entered into force on May 15, 2007.
INSPIRE is based on the infrastructures for spatial information established and operated by the 27 Member States of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. The Directive addresses 34 spatial data themes needed for environmental applications.
To ensure that the spatial data infrastructures of the Member States are compatible and usable in a Community and transboundary context, the INSPIRE Directive requires that additional legislation or common Implementing Rules (IR) are adopted for a number of specific areas (Metadata, Interoperability of spatial data sets and services, Network Services, Data and Service Sharing and Monitoring and Reporting). These are published either as Commission Regulations or as Decisions.
The Commission is assisted in the process of adopting such rules by a regulatory committee, INSPIRE Committee, composed of representatives of the Member States and chaired by a representative of the Commission (this is known as the Comitology procedure).
INSPIRE legislation
- INSPIRE Directive 14.03.2007
- INSPIRE Metadata Regulation 03.12.2008
- Commission Decision regarding INSPIRE monitoring and reporting 05.06.2009
- Regulation on INSPIRE Network Services 19.10.2009
- Corrigendum to INSPIRE Metadata Regulation 15.12.2009
- Regulation on INSPIRE Data and Service Sharing 29.03.2010
- COMMISSION REGULATION implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 10.12.2010
- Commission Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 976/2009 as regards download services and transformation service 10.12.2010
INSPIRE geoportal
The INSPIRE Directive also envisages the creation of an INSPIRE Geoportal. A prototype INSPIRE Geoportal is being developed at the Joint Research CentreDirectorate-General of the Joint Research Centre (European Commission)
The Joint Research Centre , located in Brussels, Belgium, is a Directorate-General of the European Commission. Its current Commissioner is Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, and the Director General is Dominique Ristori....
, which allows for discovery and viewing of spatial data sets and services. Its aim is to identify issues related to its implementation and accessing distributed INSPIRE services, to help towards the development of the operational geoportal.
INSPIRE conference
The INSPIRE conference 2011 took place from 27 June to 1 July 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland.INSPIRE forum
INSPIRE Forum: A Web 2.0 site for the exchange of information on INSPIRE and related initiatives.Related initiatives
- INSPIRE is one of three related initiatives that are the subject of the GIGAS (GEOSS, INSPIRE and GMESGMESGlobal Monitoring for Environment and Security is a joint initiative of the European Commission and European Space Agency, which aims at achieving an autonomous and operational Earth observation capacity....
an Action in Support) harmonization project under the auspices of the EU 7th Framework Programme.