Alexander Coley

Data Standards & Policy Manager (Defra)

@alexrcoley



where next for INSPIRE? 

making it work for the UK

2001 - 2004 EC studies

  • cultural, institutional, financial and legal barriers prevent or delay the sharing and re-use of existing spatial data
  • the description (documentation) of available spatial data was often incomplete

  • spatial data was often missing or incomplete
  • spatial datasets could often not be combined with other spatial datasets
  • the systems to find, access and use spatial data would often function in isolation only and were not compatible with each other


The Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) should assist policy-making in relation to policies and activities that may have a direct or indirect impact on the environment
This Directive should apply to spatial data held by or on behalf of public authorities and to the use of spatial data by public authorities in the performance of their public tasks
The problems regarding the availability, quality, organisation, accessibility and sharing of spatial information are common to a large number of policy and information themes and [..]. Solving these problems requires measures that address exchange, sharing, access and use of interoperable spatial data and spatial data services across the various levels of public authority and [..] An infrastructure for spatial information in the Community should therefore be established

in 2004 

8 new states 

joined the EU

and there had been numerous 

cross-border environmental crises


7 years since the directive entered into force


4 years since the implementation phases began         


6 years until implementation should be fully business as usual

INSPIRE (legislation in the UK)



incorporated into UK law in 2009
amending regulations in 2012

what we have 

(not exhaustive)


widely reusable to very niche 

some very and some not very useful



5500+  

location datasets & services*









*on data.gov.uk (some double counting) 

340+ WMS & WMTS 

services*









*on data.gov.uk & many with more than 1 layer

60+ WFS 

services*









*on data.gov.uk & much more due

50+ downloadable

spatial datasets*









*on data.gov.uk and gov.uk & much more due

900+ public bodies

publishing spatial datasets*









*on data.gov.uk and gov.uk

1000's csv's 

with geo-referenceable information*







*on data.gov.uk and gov.uk

coordinate reference systems




OSGB, WGS84 & ETRS89







but






a lot has changed 

since 2007


who are 

our users?

"Traditional GI" is only 

a part of the picture


data quality

is still an issue



service quality

remains patchy



complexity 

is higher than ideal


shift in focus 

from datasets to data products to data content


Ticking the box 

vs. adding value



User needs 

should be where we start


and some bits don't work

(maintenance required)


spatial data

quite simple & not so simple



WMS, WMTS, WCS, WFS
KML, GML, GeoJSON, CSV,

shapefiles, GeoTIFFs, MapInfoTAB, ASCII Grid, etc *










*there is a lot and some have traditionally had differing uses

WMS and WMTS may not help


coverages, grids & real time data

urgent challenges


Transformation 

have you seen the data specifications?

Quality improvement


design

data sets, services and interfaces to be 

Useful and Usable


data content 

as the new focus


harmonisation


multiple public bodies contributing content to datasets/products

challenge back

what doesn't work what isn't useful


increasing the utility and value


 

Simplification

where possible


demonstrating 

best practice


 

demonstrating value


Environmental directives

and duplication of effort


coordination of efforts


data models

data transformation

reporting approaches

reference data

code lists

ICT funding bid

the Maintenance and Implementation Framework

maintain 6 legal acts & 

40+ Technical Guidelines


the INSPIRE formal Interim report

Impact of INSPIRE among Small and Medium Enterprises 

in Europe (SMEspire project) 

questions



 
















Alexander Coley

@alexrcoley


[end]


WhereNext4INSPIRE-NRC

By Alex Coley

WhereNext4INSPIRE-NRC

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