Home | OpenELS

European open geospatial data services from official national sources

Open ELS Project provides a single point of access to a number of European open geospatial data test services.

EuroGeographics, which represents Europe’s National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities, is coordinating the two-year initiative.

.

It aims to provide user-focused services using open geospatial data which is already available from EuroGeographics members.

#OpenELS blog

30 April 2019

Completion of the Open ELS project

The Open ELS Project concluded on 30 April 2019 after two years of work by the project partners. The Open ELS test services, launched at Geospatial World Forum, are based on user requirements, in particular those from the European Commission and from the small and medium sized enterprises (SME) engagement programme. They play an important […]

30 April 2019

Open ELS Project launches user interface

Open data services developed using official national sources of geospatial information are now available through an easy-to-use interface. The Open European Location Services (ELS) Project customer interface, which demonstrates the potential of providing a single access point for harmonised European data from different countries, was developed by ThinkWhere and accessed at https://www.euro-geo-opendata.eu. Users simply register, […]

29 April 2019

Open data toolbox for NMCAs published

The Open ELS Project has developed a toolbox to help National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities (NMCAs) in their journey towards open geospatial data and participation in pan-European infrastructures. As well as the key steps, it also includes typical questions and challenges and support material to overcome them. Toolbox for National Mapping, Cadastral and Land […]

25 April 2019

New report on Linked Data and pan-European geospatial data provision

The Open ELS Project has published a report demonstrating the capabilities of Linked Data technology in the context of Pan-European geospatial data provision. Next Generation of Spatial Data Infrastructure: Lessons from Linked Data implementations across Europe is the result of a collaboration between the national mapping agencies of Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain.

2 April 2019

Open ELS Project unveils first test services

Open data services developed using official national sources of geospatial information have been demonstrated for the first time at Geospatial World Forum (2 April 2019).

5 February 2019

New report: Open geospatial data from official sources is opportunity to boost SME productivity & competitive advantage

Centralising access to official national geospatial and land information from Europe would enable SMEs to be more competitive by cutting costs and boosting their ability to scale up and enter new markets, says a new report.

5 December 2018

Guidance on cross-border harmonisation

The Open ELS Project has issued guidance on implementing cross-border harmonisation for data providers so that they can edge-match topographical features along borders.

16 October 2018

Open ELS at EFGS 2018

As part of the session on international cooperation at the 11th European Forum for Geography and Statistics (EFGS), Dominik Kopczewski from EuroGeographics shared recent research on the current position of open services in Europe.

19 July 2018

Product update

The definition, specification and development of data products and web services with a strong user focus is a key task for the Open ELS Project. the latest update is now available.

9 July 2018

Data policy to boost use of official geospatial information

Harmonised geospatial data from official national sources will be free to access and available under an open licence through the Open European Location Services (Open ELS) Project.

20 June 2018

Information for data suppliers

If you are providing content for European Location Services or Open ELS, a list of important information is available by logging onto the EuroGeographics website.

10 April 2018

Open ELS Open Data Policy and Licensing Workshop

Representatives from 21 NMCAs, NSAs and the research community met recently to learn about the open data policy and licensing framework for the Open ELS Project.

20 March 2018

Open ELS all partners meeting

The Open ELS Project partners met to discuss progress on developing European open geospatial data services from official national sources.

23 February 2018

Ukraine NSDI Conference

Delegates at Ukraine NSDI conference have heard about progress in the Open ELS Project.

18 January 2018

Open ELS Products & Services Workshop

Members of the Open ELS Project met to define products and services following feedback from a user workshop and survey on data availability.

19 December 2017

Frequently Asked Questions Published

Do you have a question about the Open ELS Project? Then please visit our new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section.

15 December 2017

Open ELS Project update – December 2017

Find out what the Open ELS Project has achieved in the past two months and more about the next steps in our latest update.

5 December 2017

Research reveals scope of open geospatial data from official national sources across Europe

Open data is available from the majority of European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities (NMCAs), a new survey has found.

16 November 2017

Launch of Open ELS Help Desk marks first Project milestone

The launch of the Open ELS Help Desk marks the delivery of the Open European Location Services (ELS) Project’s first milestone. This provides an important tool for data providers, potential users and others with an interest in European open data geospatial service to contact the Open ELS Project team.

20 October 2017

Technical infrastructure update

Activities are currently focussed on: Planning the activities to strengthen the technical infrastructure and the availability of services; the activities will be carried out in 2018. Further platform activities, dependent upon upcoming usage and content/ services. Consolidation of software components and, if needed, introduction of new components based on identified requirements. Kartverket Norway is leading […]

17 October 2017

Data supply support update

Work has focussed on the following activities: A “European Location Services Data Supply” Basecamp group has been set up to communicate progress to data providers, handle issues in national services and share presentations and records. Regular webinars are being organised for subscribers. Further development of procedures for quality checking, testing and application of validation tools, […]

10 October 2017

Product development update

Activities, including user orientation and marketing, are currently focussed on: Running a number of user workshops to assist in the prioritisation of development and ensure a customer centric approach. Making available evaluation services to seek further input and feedback from key users. The development of Open ELS demonstration use cases, to provide decision makers with […]

4 October 2017

EuroGeographics members give green light to new strategy

The Open ELS project is a core component of EuroGeographics wider vision for European Location Services. Building an operational European Location Services is integral to EuroGeographics’ future plans and is a key part of the Association’s strategy for 2017–2020. Following its approval by members at the 2017 General Assembly, the process of defining the operational […]

12 June 2017

Plan to deliver authoritative pan-European open data services unveiled today in Brussels

Members of EuroGeographics have today (12 June 2017) unveiled plans for pan-European open data services underpinned by geospatial information from official sources.

See what’s been on and what’s to come

Dublin Castle

10th Annual European Forum for Geography & Statistics

EuroGeographics Secretary General & Executive Director, Mick Cory will speak on the importance of collaboration.

Museum of Natural Sciences, Brussels

Land Use/Land Cover Products: Challenges and Opportunities

A joint workshop organised by EuroGeographics INSPIRE KEN, European Environment Agency, EuroSDR and the INSPIRE Thematic cluster LU-LC.

Italian Geographic Military Institute

State Boundaries of Europe Knowledge Exchange Network Plenary

EuroGeographics Services Development Consultant, Saulius Urbanas will provide an update on Open ELS activities and guidance on implementing cross-border harmonisation. Please note this event is for EuroGeographics members only.

Royal Lancaster Hotel, London

DGI Europe

EuroGeographics Secretary General & Executive Director, Mick Cory will participate in a panel discussion during this annual conference on geospatial intelligence for national security.

Old University Campus, Valletta

2nd International Workshop on Spatial Data Quality

A two-day workshop organised by EuroGeographics Quality KEN, EuroSDR, Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), and International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 211Geographic Information.

Open ELS Partners Meeting

Open ELS partners are meeting to discuss the strategic direction and value chain of the Project and to align activities. Activity Leaders will present the key achievements from the first year and update on plans for 2018.

Update on ELS Data Supply activities

Webinar to update EuroGeographics members on in ELS Data Supply related activities. The agenda will include: Status of ELS web-services Data Provider Agreement (DPA) Contributions to Core Reference Dataset (CRD) Future ELS technical architecture Opportunities for strengthening capacities in NMCAs Please register via the ELS Data Supply basecamp or contact Saulius Urbanas.

INSPIRE 2018 – Make It Work Together

Friday 21 September National approaches, strategies and international cooperation, Room C 12:00 Abigail Page, Technical Product Development Manager, presents on Putting the User at the Centre – Experiences in the development of European Location Services. The Open ELS Project is a core component of a wider vision for operational European Location Services. These will provide European geospatial […]

11th European Forum for Geography and Statistics Conference

The European Forum for Geography and Statistics Conference will be held in Helsinki, Finland, on October 16-18, 2018. The conference is hosted by Statistics Finland and the National Land Survey of Finland supported by the Statistical Office of European Union (Eurostat) and the European Forum for Geography and Statistics. More information about the EFGS 2018 […]

Open ELS Activity 3 Project Partners Meeting

The 2nd physical meeting of Open ELS Activity 3 project partners will take place at the National Geographic Institute of Spain on 30 and 31 October. More information (for members)

Use of INSPIRE Data: past experiences and scenarios for the future

Representatives from the Open ELS Project are presenting at this workshop which is co-organised by the EuroGeographics (INSPIRE Knowledge Exchange Network) and by EuroSDR (Commission 4 on information usage). More inforamtion.

Webinar: Guidance on implementation of cross-border harmonisation

A webinar for NMCAs on cross-border harmonisation, an important activity for delivering coherent content in pan-European data and web-services. More information.

Geospatial World Forum 2019

EuroGeographics will launch demonstration and test services from the Open European Location Services (ELS) Project on the 2nd April, with demonstrations available in the exhibition on Stand 34. More information. Abigail Page, Product Development Manager, EuroGeographics will also be speaking in the Location-based Services session on Infrastructure, Markets and Revenue. Her speaking slot on 3 […]