25 years of EuroGeographics: driving spatial data harmonization forward to support economic growth and development

Over the past 25 years, EuroGeographics has evolved from a ‘dining club’ into an influential non-profit association. In this interview, Sallie Payne Snell discusses the current and future challenges, including helping national mapping, cadastral and land registration agencies to remain relevant in an increasingly digital and geopolitical landscape. “It’s important for national mapping agencies to understand that while they have a national remit, their continued relevance depends on their data being used regionally and globally too,” she says.

How do you view EuroGeographics’ role in relation to the UN’s geospatial initiatives?

EuroGeographics is primarily a delivery organization – we focus on delivering tangible benefits and moving things forward. Although the UN process tends to be slower, the UN brand carries considerable weight. The United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) is recognized for its significance as a high-level policy driver and I believe it now needs to find a clear direction for its next phase to ensure it continues to engage people’s interest. Our collaboration with its Secretariat, the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), provides a platform for knowledge exchange and capacity building with a focus on avoiding duplication and emphasizing complementarity of our two very different organizations.

Globally, EuroGeographics actively supports and contributes to UN-GGIM as an Observer Organization. At European level, we are an observer on the UN-GGIM Europe Executive Committee for which we have provided the secretariat through a service-level agreement with Kadaster Netherlands since 2015.

How has EuroGeographics evolved to support national mapping, cadastral and land registration agencies in an increasingly digital landscape?

This is an interesting question, especially as EuroGeographics celebrates its 25^th anniversary this year. We’ve evolved from what could be called a ‘dining club’ where people came together to discuss issues, into an influential non-profit association. We’ve developed extremely strong knowledge exchange and representation capabilities. Recently, we wrote to 26 newly appointed commissioners in the EU, and we’ve already heard back from 12, with three confirmed meetings in January. This response is particularly positive as several referenced our Open Maps for Europe project.

Can you tell us more about the Open Maps for Europe project?

Open Maps for Europe aligned with the PSI directive to open data, which DG Connect wanted. We opened up our small-scale harmonized pan-European products, including EuroGlobalMap, EuroRegionalMap (1:1 million and 1:250,000 scales), an imagery layer covering all of Europe, and a regional gazetteer. We also started a pilot project looking at high-value data for cadastral information. The project was incredibly successful, with user numbers increasing by over 800%.

Following that success, DG Connect encouraged us to do more. We received significant user feedback indicating that people want harmonized, pan-European, official data at a larger scale – around 1:10,000 scale. This is particularly important for key stakeholders like Eurostat, which is interested in boundary data, and the European Environment Agency, which focuses on hydrography. This led to our Open Maps For Europe 2 (OME2) proposal, which we developed with production experts from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Iceland and Austria. Having started in 2023, OME2 is developing a new production process and technical specification for free-to-use, edge-matched high-value data under a single open licence. The project is co-funded by the European Union and is being delivered by a consortium comprising us as well as National Geographic Institute, Belgium, National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information, France, Hellenic Cadastre, General Directorate for the Cadastre, Spain, and Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency, the Netherlands. It corresponds with member states’ obligations to implement high-value data and will be completed at the end of this year.

How are you working to influence EU policy?

We’ve managed to influence policy through successful project delivery. Recently, we had a significant breakthrough when we presented at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. This led to a project proposal being accepted with €2 million in funding, which will help establish a policy home for geospatial data within the EU. This success came from demonstrating the practical value of harmonized data through projects like OME2. We’re now at a point where EU bodies are coming to us for advice, which shows we’re making a real impact.

You mentioned strong knowledge exchange capabilities. How do you facilitate knowledge exchange among members in practice?

We organize various events through our knowledge exchange networks, General Assembly, and permanent correspondence events. We hold many online events and webinars where members share case studies and learn from each other. What’s interesting is that while some mapping agencies have been around for a long time with lots of knowledge and experience, this isn’t always an advantage. Take Estonia, for example – their newer status means they can embrace new technologies without the burden of legacy systems. So the knowledge exchange isn’t just one-way from established agencies; newer organizations often bring fresh perspectives and innovative approaches that others can learn from.

What do you see as the most significant challenges facing European spatial data in the coming years?

When it comes to harmonizing data across different European countries, one of the main challenges is dealing with different interpretations of standards. For example, what’s defined as a motorway in one country might be classified differently in another. While we have an INSPIRE specification, countries have interpreted it in different ways. The challenge is not always about the standard itself, but about aligning definitions across borders to ensure continuity in the data.

And for the national mapping agencies themselves, the main challenge is to remain relevant. In today’s world, data is everywhere and easily accessible – we all use Google Maps to find the nearest pub. However, there’s still a fundamental importance to large-scale authoritative data, whether for emergency services or property transactions. The challenge is ensuring national mapping agencies stay relevant by having their data used and relied upon. Another challenge is not getting lost in the sea of information. While Earth observation data and fancy visualizations are exciting, without the reference data to geolocate that information, it’s just a nice picture.

What’s your strategy for ensuring the relevance of national mapping agencies?

If we want national mapping and cadastral agencies to remain relevant, their data must be both accessible and usable, so that’s what our strategy focuses on. Anyone can get data now, but the key question is whether they can use it effectively. This is particularly important when addressing challenges like climate change and migration in Europe, which require good core reference data. We need to invest in creating datasets that users want, and build a value proposition where users understand that while the data is free, the service around making it usable needs to be funded.

How does Europe compare to other global powers like the US and China in terms of spatial data policy?

Looking at UN-GGIM, Europe is quite effective due to its structures. We have well-managed, high-quality national mapping data, supported by legislative frameworks like GDPR, the Interoperability Act, INSPIRE and open data regulations. While it’s not perfect, we have good infrastructure, and other regions often look to Europe for direction. Regarding big companies like Google, we see them not as competitors but as part of the geospatial ecosystem. They would love to have our data, but they’re not investing in creating it because the expertise sits within the mapping agencies.

What’s your view on INSPIRE’s impact on business opportunities?

While INSPIRE was meant to boost business opportunities, the reality is that implementation varied across countries. The European Union’s dream of seamlessly stitching together data from Germany, France, Spain and Portugal hasn’t materialized. INSPIRE is currently under review, with a focus on harmonization and integration – which aligns with what we’re doing. We’re taking INSPIRE data from mapping agencies and working on the harmonization aspect. While it hasn’t achieved its initial goals, we hope that with the review and our work with members, that dream of supporting economic growth and development will be realized.

Where do you see EuroGeographics in five years?

By 2030, we aim to have a self-funding production stream for large-scale data used by the European Commission, European users and global users. We already work with the UN One Situation Room, providing Euro Global Map at 1:1,000,000 scale for Europe. Ideally, we want to stop producing small-scale data separately and instead generalize from one large-scale database. We’d like to see a dedicated home for geospatial data within the European infrastructure – a coordinating body across all DGs. Globally, we want to ensure that geospatial data is recognized as fundamental to achieving sustainable development goals.

What message would you like to share with GIM International readers?

It’s important for national mapping agencies to understand that while they have a national remit, their continued relevance depends on their data being used not just nationally, but regionally and globally. While mapping alone won’t solve global challenges like climate change, it provides the infrastructure and tools that enable better decision-making through accurate data. There’s also an increasing security element to consider, balancing open data policies with security concerns, particularly in the current global context.

EuroGeographics is celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year. How are you marking this milestone?

We’re holding our General Assembly in Riga, Latvia, in May. We’ve invited past presidents and secretary generals to the opening session, where we’ll look back at our history and forward to our future. We’ll have a 25^th anniversary gala dinner, and we’ve created a special anniversary logo. We’re also producing a document for our members highlighting major milestones in EuroGeographics’ history. It’s going to be more than just a celebration – it’s a pivotal point as we make strategic decisions about our direction for the next five years.

About Sallie Payne Snell

Sallie Payne Snell is secretary general and executive director of EuroGeographics. A highly respected senior manager, she has an international network of geospatial contacts gained through extensive relationship and reputation management experience. Sallie represents EuroGeographics in its capacity as Observer Organization at both the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) and UN-GGIM: Europe. Her previous positions include deputy director at the Association for Geographic Information, and International Stakeholder Relationship Manager at Ordnance Survey. She holds a BSc in Geographical Science.