Transcript Training - City College

SDI in Greece
Poulicos Prastacos
Director of Research
Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics
Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas
Hrakleion, Greece
[email protected]
Outline of presentation

Institutional context

The various agencies

Alternative paths for the future
Institutional context

A single agency responsible for implementing the
SDI does not exist

Several agencies/ministries involved with the
production of data of their own interest

Driver for the implementation of some standards is
the “Information Society” organization responsible
for distributing funds

There is discussion for implementing INSPIRE
standards
The Agencies

Ministry of Public Works and the Environment
– OKXE : Established in 1986 to be the Mapping Agency of
Greece
– KTIMATOLOGIO SA: Private company with one
shareholder (OKXE) established to implement the cadaster
– EDPER: Environmental information
– Various other agencies

Ministry of Defense
– GYS: Hellenic Military Geographical Service; Traditionally
the mapping agency of Greece
– YY: Hellenic Navy Hydrographic Service
The Agencies

Ministry of Agriculture
– Various agencies responsible for developing databases for
forests, agriculture (grape, olive cadaster etc.)

Ministry of National Economy
– ESYE: Statistical office of Greece
– Information Society: Organization for distributing the funds
received from the EU (structural funds)

Ministry of Development
– IGME: Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration
The survey


6 agencies filled questionnaires
2 agencies obtained most data from their web

SDI in its formal name does not exist in any
organization but in the last few years an effort has
been made to start developing datasets and making
them available to the public

Significant effort is made at the city and regional
level to develop GIS systems and establish a
component that will permit dissemination of
information to the general public
The answers to the survey

User groups
– Public agencies, public

Technological level
– Mostly based on ESRI products, GEOMEDIA (Agriculture)
– Open source products are not used

Originality, innovation

Use of Inspire principles
– Only in few agencies

Benefits beyond the usual benefits from SDI
– Ministry of Agriculture: subsidies for farmers
– Ktimatologio SA: HEPOS system
The answers to the survey

Extending it to other countries
– Could be extended if there are similar interests

User feedback
– Nothing in written form

Links to national SDI web page
– National sdi web page does not exist
– There are usually links from the home page of the ministry

Language
– Only the web sites of GYS and YY are in English discussing the
various products available

Metadata
– Not available on-line
– Sometimes available off-line
Some examples of good practices

KTIMATOLOGIO SA:
– Development of the HEPOS (Hellenic Positioning System)
– Aerial photography of the whole country and
orthophotomaps that could be distributed to other public
agencies

Statistical Service of Greece
– Establishment of policies to distribute city road maps at a
relatively low cost

GYS:
– Development of a web site describing fully their products
and giving the capability to users to order products on line
The future

Greece has lost some time in developing an SDI for
various reasons (lack of clear objectives, funds,
bureaucracy, myopic stakeholders …)

However, the problems are not insurmountable

The problems are not technological but institutional
arising from the lack to address the issue of map
availability and distribution (SDI) in a cooperative
way

There is a need to address the problems that exist
and take decisions at high levels of government and
break the barriers that exist among various
agencies of the various ministries
Alternative paths

OKXE finally becomes the mapping agency
not only in words but also in reality
– It is designated as the responsible organization
and with funding coming mostly from the EU
(ESPA) new maps are developed
– All agencies remain independent and somehow
a memorandum of cooperation is established
– Private contractors do the various tasks and
deliver the products to the public agencies
– Public agencies responsible for maintenance etc.
Alternative paths

OKXE establishes a private company
– OKXE responsible but similar to the cadaster
system a private company wholly owned by the
Ministry is established to develop the SDI
– Could be Ktimatologio SA
– This approach will permit quick decisions
– Funding from EU (if permitted)
Alternative paths

Public – Private partnerships
– Private sector develops under strict rules the SDI
and makes it available to the public sector and
the public.
– Develops not only datasets but also tools needed
in the various agencies
– Responsible for maintenance etc.
– Funding provided by the private sector (banks
etc.) and the public sector pays every year a
lump sum (not per use)
Conclusions




Presently there is no SDI in Greece
However, significant efforts have been made
in the last years
There is need to take some decisions with
respect who develops, who manages, who
maintains the SDI.
The failures of the last 20 years should be
recognized and a new way of addressing the
issues should prevail