July 23, 2015 — EuroGeographics has signed a contract to provide pan-European geographic information and related services to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
The four-year agreement means that staff at the European Commission can access geospatial data from National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities through its geographical information service, GISCO. The data includes administrative units and statistical regions as well as 1:250 000 scale topo-geographic information.
Ekkehard Petri, Team Leader ‘Geographical Information’ at Eurostat says: “The Commission depends on accurate geospatial information to deliver many of its activities. From protecting against flooding or other natural hazards, to agricultural policies, intelligent transport and economic growth, many European initiatives rely on up-to-date, seamless geospatial information. The authoritative data we will receive from EuroGeographics play a key role in meeting our users’ demand.”
“Geospatial and statistical data are increasingly used together to support policy making,” says Angela Baker, Sales, Marketing and Channel Manager, EuroGeographics.
“Confidence that the information provided is consistent and comparable — regardless of its national source — is key. We are delighted to be providing Eurostat, and through it the Commission, with authoritative, harmonised geographic information and related services from the European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities.”
The agreement includes:
EuroBoundaryMap, a seamless geo-database at 1:100 000 scale which covers 41 European countries. It contains a European-wide unique identifier for all administrative units and an exact linkage to LAU and NUTS statistical codes, including the NUTS 2013 regulation.
EuroRegionalMap which contains topo-geographic information at 1:250 000 scale and covers 34 European countries. It is used for spatial analysis, cartographic publishing and backdrop visualisation, or in combination with other datasets for marketing planning and socio-economic analysis, environmental analysis, and transport management.
GISCO is a Eurostat service which produces maps, spatial analysis, promotes georeferencing of statistics and provides user support for Commission users of GIS. It is one of the leaders of the INSPIRE initiative, supporting the implementation of the directive for the establishment of a European Spatial Data Infrastructure.