| START Conference Manager |
(Submission #203)
The going is tough for INSPIRE. Although the deadlines of the INSPIRE directive are moving closer, the affected authorities are having trouble to meet the INSPIRE requirements. Not a surprise, as there is a bulk of complex technical regulations to be mastered. Users need a vast knowhow and suitable IT solutions. The fact that INSPIRE is not a core competence of most authorities doesn’t make it any easier. In order to overcome the huge obstacles it would make sense to hire an external specialist and leave all of the technical problems to him. Indeed, there are a number of authorities that are interested in such a concept. However, it is not easy, to find a suitable provider because you are looking for someone who is not only able to deliver the technical infrastructure (software, server) but who can also provide the services for managing and publishing the data. Further on he would have to be an INSPIRE expert. And there is another, commonly neglected topic: contracts. A full service offer requires clear-cut Service Level Agreements which explicitly define the scope of services the Authority can expect and what it have to take care on its own. The contracts also have to cover the financial aspects and more. Each of these aspects may be well-known but the package as a whole is a major challenge. Every single part has to be mastered, because only then the INSPIRE obligated authority can be sure to have fulfilled its obligations. Consequently the offer is called “INSPIRE as a Service”. It is based on a solution framework for Geodata Infrastructures and INSPIRE which is called the “deegree Enterprise Edition”. The package contains the entire INSPIRE stack and supports all requirements of the technical regulations (data, visualization and discovery services). In collaboration with its partner Fujitsu Technology Solutions, the consortium has developed an IT environment that guarantees high performance and reliability, emphasizing IT security: system hardening has been performed and the operational procedures meet the requirements of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). The deegree Enterprise Edition is Open Source which helps to optimize costs and avoids licensing problems. Nevertheless it is professionally supported and guarantees long term support for its users. The paper describes the special technical challenges and how they have been solved. It also informs the interested authorities about the way how to participate in such an approach.
Topic Area: [2.2] Technologies and tools required to deliver INSPIRE Abstract Type: Oral Presentation
START Conference Manager (V2.61.0 - Rev. 4195)