Goal
We are starting to collect statements of support from organisations, businesses and research groups, talking about the economic and social value that open access to public geodata would bring to their activities.
Submitting Testimony
If you want to submit a testimony, please send an email with your name, details and short description of your company/academy, and statement, optionally also logo, number of employees, and picture of yourself.
What to Submit
A statement of support can be as short as a paragraph long. This is a suggestion for how to set it out clearly:
- Provide a brief description of who you are, what your business/group does and how big it is.
- How public access to geodata would help you create value.
You could also choose to go into detail on the INSPIRE Directive :
Specific problems that you have with INSPIRE as it stands (Analysis Of INSPIRE Text describes in particular the problems with intellectual property rights that may be used to withhold access to data from citizens and businesses)
Specific changes you would like to see made to the Directive that would be of great benefit to you. (Specifically, guaranteeing public right to download and re-use public geodata.
The Arguments for an open access policy for geographic data may be helpful in putting a testimony together.
It's still worth talking to your MEP about public access to geodata and how that is being restricted and overlooked in the INSPIRE process. It's definitely worth trying to contact your environment department about the policy towards state-collected geographic information that is being set in the Council.
Statements of Support
OSGEO: "The governments of the United States, Canada and other nations show that granting free access to basic geographic data is technically and economically feasible"