The GEOWEB EUROPE Project ran from 1997 thru 1998. The Definition phase ran from January to June 1997 and the Implementation Phase took place from July 1997 throughout 1998.
Designed within the framework of the EC INFO2000 programme, and co-funded by DGXIII, the GEOWEB EUROPE Project was dedicated to the development of a European Multilingual Multimedia Information Service relating to Geographical Information.
The demand for GI information is very high in Europe and in particular for information published in national languages. However up until the late 1990's, most information on GI was written in English and little in other national languages. As a consequence an important objective of this project was to provide information about GI in the main national European languages of the EU.
The general objectives were as follows:
- To set up a pan-European GI Information Service in order to increase the understanding and awareness of potential customers, to develop the market of GI-dedicated media, to foster the GI market (data, equipment, services) particularly across borders and, finally, to help the European added-value companies in this sector become better informed and more competitive.
- To secure the economic viability of this Information Service by securing partnerships and through a study of the market.
The structure of the Information Service is made up of three elements:
a quarterly multilingual printed information bulletin;
an interactive multilingual Web server;
an annually updated multimedia CD-ROM.
The general contents of the proposed GI Information Service comprised four subjects:
- a survey and an analysis of the national and European policies in force with respect to GI,
- a survey of digital geographical data and spatial referenced data available within the EU,
- a survey and an analysis of the development of the GI market (operational applications, strategies, new data, equipment and services, training, research...),
- a survey and an analysis of the main GI Web sites.
During the Definition Phase access to the Information Service will be free. In the next phase (Implementation) the pricing policy will distinguish a low level access (will remain free) and a high level access (payment by subscription). Other financial inputs will be provided by advertisements.
One of the main tasks to be performed during the Definition Phase is the identification and selection of partners for the Implementation Phase. These partners would provide technical and financial support.
The project is managed by a consortium led by SCOT CONSEIL (France), a consultancy company and a news server editor specialised in GI, in partnership with EUROGI (The Netherlands), a European Umbrella organisation incorporating the main public and private European GI actors, ESYS (UK), a specialist in marketing and business analysis studies in the field of GI, GI and communications, IPR (Luxembourg), a specialist in high tech partnership, and SPOT IMAGE (France), the main European producer of GI data.
For further information, please contact M. Christian CREPEAU, SCOT CONSEIL, Parc du Canal, 1 rue Hermès, 31526 RAMONVILLE CEDEX, France, Tel.: 33 05 61 39 46 32, Fax: 33 05 61 39 46 10, e-mail: cc@scot.cnes.fr
Ramonville, 27 February 1997.