International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXV, Part B6. Istanbul 2004 
The workshops were successful in raising the 
profile of EuroSpec across the stakeholder groups 
and the issues that need to be resolved. The 
outcome fed into a plan to take forward EuroSpec 
and approved at the EuroGeographics general 
assembly in autumn 2003. 
The workshop findings and presentations will be 
found on the  EuroGeographics web site 
[EuroSpec, 2004] 
Ontologies and Schema Translation Services 
Held in Marne la Vallee, near Paris in spring 
2004 this workshop heard from several experts on 
research into taxonomies and ways of classifying 
geographic objects. This is not only important in 
establishing a more recognisable set of objects but 
in relating these from one organisation to another 
at national or international levels to establish a 
seamless mapping capability and achieve greater 
automation. 
The workshop will be reported in a future official 
publication. 
o 
EuroSDR has driven all but the EuroSpec workshops but 
several of these have been jointly sponsored in collaboration 
with other bodies including EuroGeographics, ISPRS and 
others, such the host organisations. The workshop programme is 
consolidating a network of very specific GI expertise across 
Europe. 
4.3 Future Plans 
Based on this successful track record, there are several areas for 
future investigation already being planned. Some of these are 
described below, others will start to emerge, driven to underpin 
the EuroSpec programme goals and objectives. Where 
appropriate, and where there is general support, projects or 
some other form of collaboration may emerge from the 
workshop. Wider collaboration will also extend to build 
stronger links with other organisations such as ISPRS, ICA, 
FIG, AGILE and OpenGIS. 
Forthcoming Workshops 
Impacts of improving the positional accuracy of GI databases, 
Dublin — spring 2004 
In conjunction with the Dublin Institute of Technology [DIT], 
who also are part funding the event and FIG, the workshop will 
address the issues created when the position of reference data is 
changed as a result of some improvement in data quality or 
other policy change. The workshop will focus on: 
e The extent of positional accuracy problem 
internationally, 
e The drivers that are now forcing NMCAs to 
address positional accuracy issues. 
e The inevitable impact this has on users, their 
data holdings and maintenance regimes and 
e How this process is managed. 
Map Generalisation, Leicester — summer 2004 
In conjunction with the International Cartographic Association, 
this workshop will investigate issues involved with GI 
218 
generalisation and multi-scale data. The requirement arises 
from the need to reduce the number of ‘flowlines’ and to 
improve consistency and currency across outputs from an 
NMCA. Specific issues to be addressed include: 
e The role of the model in generalisation, with a 
separate cartographic (or rendering) process. 
e Rules for model generalisation, including 3D data. 
e The propagation of updates across scales 
Possible future topics 
2D to 3D. 
Further work is envisaged following on from the previous 
workshops to develop pragmatic approaches to the height 
element and support the growing requirements in land 
registration, georeferencing and planning. Research topics 
proposed include: 
The definition, utility and implementation of 
capabilities short of (and less expensive than) full 3D. 
These include 2.5D and multi-surface capabilities 
The possibilities for a unified 3D data model handling 
both geospatial and engineering/CAD/architectural 
models 
The possibilities for a ‘hybrid’ approach, with 
linkages between the geospatial model and the 
CAD/engineering/architecture models operating in a 
seamless manner 
Georeferencing, Data Integration and Modelling 
In a database environment, careful data modelling is critical to 
enable and provide access to the data. There is always an 
inevitable balance, or trade off, in terms of developing the 
richness (and perhaps complexity) of the data model vs. the 
practicality of achieving an effective operational system. The 
workshop is envisaged to explore: 
Data Models. Are these user/organisation driven or 
vendor driven? 
Object Identifiers. The trend towards object models 
and the use of persistent identifiers is growing. 
Object Semantics. Research is needed into object 
semantics and the consistency (or otherwise) of the 
approaches being adopted 
History and Versioning. It is not clear whether the 
capabilities emerging from database technology will 
be sufficient for the needs of geospatial core data 
(particularly at very high granularity). 
Object Lifecycle. The models and relationships of 
reference data and application data. 
Data Quality — setting and achieving acceptable levels. 
Currency, consistency, completeness, interoperability 
accuracy are all critical characteristics of a database centric 
environment. This raises several questions: 
and 
e Do organisations (NMCAs and users) set targets to 
manage these aspects of their data? 
e What drives those targets? Internal or external needs? 
« How are quality statements prepared and the 
information? 
e What techniques are used to assure data quality? 
e What, if anything, needs to change to support quality 
statements of pan-European datasets?