October 10, 2013 -- Two new authorities have joined EuroGeographics which means the association’s membership now covers the whole of geographical Europe.

Applications for full membership from the State Authority for Geospatial Information, Albania and the State Committee on Property, the Republic of Belarus were approved at the General Assembly held in Warsaw. EuroGeographics now represents 59 organisations from 46 countries. The meeting also elected Dipl.-Ing. Wernher Hoffmann, Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying Austria; Colonel (Eng.) Gennaro Afeltra, Italian Military Geographic Institute; and Bengt Kjellson, The Swedish Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authority to the EuroGeographics’ Management Board.

The annual gathering of leaders from Europe’s National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities discussed future trends in geo-information; the progress of the European Location Framework; and the ways in which they would meet the opportunities and challenges presented by open data.

“From social inclusion to agricultural policies, intelligent transport to economic growth, many European initiatives and policies rely on current and seamless       geo-information,” says EuroGeographics’ Secretary General and Executive Director, Dave Lovell.

“Confidence that the information provided is consistent and comparable - regardless of its national source - is key so we are delighted to welcome our newest members Albania and the Republic of Belarus. Harmonised data from our members is already benefitting the European institutions and business; the European Location Framework builds on this by further enabling the free movement of interoperable geo-information, delivering cost savings by maximising the reuse of public sector geo-information and avoiding the development of duplicate services.”

Hosted by the Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography, Poland, the 2013 General Assembly was attended by 148 delegates from 43 countries. Guest speakers included Michal Boni, Minister of Administration and Digitalization; Kazimierz Bujakowski, Head of Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography, Poland; Lina Domarkiene, Director of Information Society Policy
Department, Ministry of Communication, Lithuania; Santiago Borrero, Secretary General of the Pan American Institute for Geography and History; Thorben Hansen President, EuroSDR; and Tim Haigh, Head of Group, European Environment Agency.


For further information please contact EuroGeographics’ Secretary General and Executive Director, Dave Lovell, on +32 2 888 71 93, +32 848 663 345 (mobile), email: dave.lovell@eurogeographics.org; Patricia Sokacova, EuroGeographics‘ Membership and Communication Manager on +421 903 056 418/+421 948 388 908, email: patricia.sokacova@eurogeographics.org; or Rhian French on +44 1264 338375, +447892 698 350 (mobile), email: press@eurogeographics.org.

About EuroGeographics 
Connecting you to the authoritative geo-information framework for Europe
EuroGeographics is an international not-for-profit organisation (AISBL/ IVZW under Belgian Law. BCE registration:  833 607 112) and the membership association for the European National Mapping, Land Registry and Cadastral Authorities. It brings together 59 members from 46 countries, from Portugal to the Ukraine and Iceland to Turkey.

EuroGeographics’ members invest around €1.5 billion in the development of geographical information each year and use cutting-edge technology to create, manage, maintain and make available authoritative national databases. Together, they are developing an infrastructure to integrate their national data – including topographic and land information – to deliver the definitive pan-European location framework for a wide range of uses.

By sharing best practice and creating standard data specifications and policies, EuroGeographics aims to ensure that members’ individual geographical databases are compatible and can interact with one another. This will provide Europe with the high quality geographical information it needs to develop policies and legislation for the environment, business competitiveness, public services, legal systems, security and more.

To find out more about EuroGeographics, please visit www.eurogeographics.org

To see our members’ geographical information in action, please visit our showcase at www.youtube.com/eurogeographics