Geospatial Infrastructure for European Union Sustainable Development

There is a general understanding that spatial data are essential for many different analyses—from purely environmental examples such as weather modelling to cost analysis calculations for logistics. All developed countries have created national agencies that are focused on spatial data collection and maintenance. A well-known example is the USGS (US Global Survey). Corresponding agencies can be observed in the European Union (EU) countries: The Dutch National SDI; the Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre; the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy in Germany, etc. For nearly a decade, within the EU, there has been discussion regarding unified geospatial infrastructure that allows seamlessly sharing spatial data from different countries. The EU countries have made significant progress in recent years thanks to the INSPIRE directive that created a basis for spatial data publishing. Currently, several important questions must be answered: What is the purpose of such a complex infrastructure? How it can be used? How it should be further developed?