Building a future in geographic information technologies
Developments in satellite, information and communication technologies are opening up possibilities for new geographic information (GI) applications in a number of sectors. Two regions which are leading developments in this field are North Rhine-Westfalia (Germany) and Salzburg (Austria). They built on previous cooperation efforts with the recently completed 'Bridging innovation-driven GIS research and development to create a GEO-society' (Bridge2geo) project. The EU-funded initiative, which lasted from January 2008 to December 2009, looked at furthering research and business applications in five sectors: health, energy, trade, tourism and environment, and security. The initiative brought together universities, research institutes, SMEs and authorities in both regions, many which are already leading standardisation initiatives in this field. Strategic networks established to promote the benefits of GI-technologies in each of the economic sectors and exploiting links with the European 'Global monitoring for environment and security' (GMES) initiative was a priority. The project partners also developed strategies, communication and business models using an innovative web 2.0 interface to harness social media. Strategies were developed for research and business exploitation in each region. A number of events were organised to share knowledge and promote greater involvement from businesses in each region. The project partners have created a web portal and registered the Bridge2geo label as a trademark, underlining the expertise of the two regions in the GI field. With the project helping to strengthen cooperation in GI development between these two regions, they will continue to play a leading role in this emerging sector, with the potential for substantial economic and societal benefits.