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OneGeologyTechnical meeting

Utrecht30-31 May 2007

Ian Jackson30 May 2007

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Contents of this presentation

• Review & current status of OneGeology

• Scope and objectives of this meeting

• What’s out of scope

• Considerations

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OneGeology (or 1G) is….

A project to make web-accessible the best available geological map data

worldwide at a scale of about 1:1 million, as a Geological Survey contribution to the International Year of Planet Earth

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1G is about making the data interoperable

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1G is not about harmonising the data

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Who is backing 1G?

International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE)www.yearofplanetearth.org

Commission for the Geological Map of the World (CGMW)http://ccgm.free.fr/

International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)www.iugs.org/

International Lithosphere Programhttp://sclilp.gfz-potsdam.de/

International Steering Committee for Global Mapping (ISCGM)www.iscgm.org

An international consortium of Geological Surveys

International Bodies

UNESCOhttp://portal.unesco.org/en/

EuroGeoSurveyshttp://www.eurogeosurveys.org/

Co-ordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP) www.ccop.org.th/

Commission for the Management and Application of Geoscience Information (CGI)www.cgi-iugs.org

GSO

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We are now 65 participating nations

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The objectives

• Making existing geological map data accessible– in whatever digital format is available in the participating country

• Transferring know-how to those who need it• Stimulate a rapid increase in interoperability (ie disseminate GeoSciML

further and faster)

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That means OneGeology is:• focusing on Internet access to digital data rather than paper maps

- society wants its information on-demand • adopting an approach that recognizes that different nations

have differing abilities to participate.• facilitating the transfer of know-how and technical expertise and

data between nations - Cutting the learning curve and costs to nations with limited resources

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The Outcome“The Brighton Accord”

• 81 participants from 43 nations and 53 national and international bodies

• Agreed OneGeology should go forward• Mission: improve the accessibility of global,

regional and national geological map data and increase its usefulness to society

• Focus on making accessible existing geological map coverage

• Recognise that this will catalyse scientific harmonisation of map data globally.

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The Brighton Accord - continued

• Priority is access to ~1:1 million data but with links and interoperable with applications for societal access and wider-resolution mapping.

• Aims to benefit society and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Geological Surveys.

• Participants to seek funding to support 1G and develop strategies to provide mutual assistance to build participant capacity.

• Data distributed will be owned by the originating Geological Survey and ideally be available at no cost.

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• Governance: Steering Group of Geological Survey representatives with link to international bodies

• Must interact with the wider geo-spatial community• Secretariat based in the BGS until Dec. 2008• Priority: make available interoperable, Internet-

accessible, scientifically-attributed data• Progress at levels appropriate to participants’ capability• Geological Surveys to work together to develop

interchange standard to make their data interoperable• Progress to be presented at the International

Geological Congress in Oslo in 2008

The Brighton Accord - continued

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• 65 Geological Surveys around the world have expressed interest in 1G• 8 global bodies, 2 international geoscience organisations, 2 multinational

companies and 3 celebrities are actively supporting 1G!• Kick-off Workshop concluded successfully in an Accord (agreed by 81

participants from 43 nations & 53 organisations)• 1G has momentum and has captured the imagination of people inside and

outside the geosciences.• BGS have allocated an initial €150 000 to move project forward in 2007/08,

TNO are supporting first Tech. WorkshopToday!

Summary of 60 weeks (February 2006 – May 2007)

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• To make a practical start on the OneGeology ~1:1 million scale initiative

• To do this in conformance with the Brighton Accord and the Technical breakout group outcome

• To initiate a prototype 1G portal/web site as soon as possible (something available before 31 December 2007 if possible……?)

• To develop an action plan and allocate the tasks for all involved partners, to meet the above objectives

Scope and objectives of this meeting

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• Overall project resources and funding• Financial assistance to developing nations• Intellectual property rights• OneGeology governance• Geopolitics.• Communication• Website, other than the map portal• These are to be discussed at a separate meeting to which all will be again

invited

What’s out of scope at this meeting

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The prototype portal/web site must:• demonstrate the broad extent of the 1G concept including

making web map services (images – from paper maps or vector or raster data) )and vector data as XML (GeoSciML) available for viewing and using.

• Must be based upon open standards• Can be unilingual (English) in this first instance• Show data from as many continents a possible.

Considerations

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• Aim is to share the prototype tasks amongst the participants

• URL of the prototype and associated documentation to go to all 1G participants for comment

• Quick deployment takes priority over depth-of-data, uniformity, and sophistication

• Purpose of the exercise is to provide a tangible "strawman" to illustrate and test the concept

• Allows us to move forward practically through "build-review-revise"

Considerations

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• GeoSciML is the potential supporting technology for 1G

• 1G and GeoSciML are symbiotic but distinct.• Cataloguing available geological maps/coverages is

not a priority at this stage.• 1G participants are expected to contribute own

resources for this prototype development project

Considerations

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Thank you

Good luck!

Any questions ?