European Geological Data Infrastructure launch event. The version 1.0 is here!

Data worth hundreds of millions of Euros has been made available through a first version of the European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI). This will enable users to access information and data in INSPIRE compliant formats about geology and earth resources across Europe. The EGDI was launched last Tuesday 14th June at the European Geological Surveys (EGS) Secretariat in Brussels. The interest expressed by the participants and speakers, mainly composed by representatives from EU DGs, was large: Marie Donnelly, Director of Renewables, research and Innovation, Energy Efficiency, (European Commission’s DG Energy) said “The kind of information you are putting together is hugely useful for the EU”, as well as Slavko Solar, DG GROW has confirmed: “EGDI is a great step forward” supported by Chris Steenmans, Head of ICT and Data Management, European Environment Agency (EEA). Positive reactions also came from  the Joint Research Centre (JRC), Constantin Ciupagea Head of Land and Raw Materials (European Commission’s DG), who highlighted: “EGDI is the big platform for EGS. Extremely happy to see EGDI go forward” as well as from Iain Shephard, Head of Maritime Policy Atlantic, outermost regions and Arctic, (European Commission’s DG for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries,) said “EGDI is a great initiative” and Gilles Ollier Head of Earth Observation (European Commission’s DG Research and Innovation) added :“EGDI has a very important role to play in the in-situ part of Copernicus and GEOSS”.

Europe – as does the rest of the world – faces a growing need for access to data on nature, environment and raw materials across the borders in order to manage resources appropriately. The EGDI is a platform for geological data from the geological surveys and it gathers thousands of pan-European and national datasets covering Energy, Groundwater, Mineral Resources, Geohazards and Soil. During his presentation, Jørgen Tulstrup (Head of Department at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, GEUS), explained that the platform enables cooperation between EGDI and other initiatives such as Copernicus, EMODNet and the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) to ensure a quick access to thematic views of pan-European data.

Visit the EGDI at http://www.europe-geology.eu/