OneGeology Technical meeting Utrecht 30-31 May 2007

1. OneGeology Technical meeting Utrecht 30-31 May 2007 Ian Jackson 30 May 2007

2. Contents of this presentation • Review & current status of OneGeology • Scope and objectives of this meeting • What’s out of scope • Considerations

3. 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

4. 1G is about making the data interoperable

5. 1G is not about harmonising the data

6. Who is backing 1G? International Bodies International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) www.yearofplanetearth.org An international consortium of Geological Surveys GSO International Steering Committee for Global Mapping (ISCGM) www.iscgm.org Commission for the Geological Map of the World (CGMW) http://ccgm.free.fr/ International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) www.iugs.org/ UNESCO http://portal.unesco.org/en/ 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 International Lithosphere Program http://sclilp.gfz-potsdam.de/ EuroGeoSurveys http://www.eurogeosurveys.org/

7. We are now 65 participating nations

8. 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)

9. 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

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. The Brighton Accord - continued • 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

13. Summary of 60 weeks (February 2006 – May 2007) • 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. Workshop Today!

14. Scope and objectives of this meeting • 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

15. What’s out of scope at this meeting • 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

16. Considerations 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.

17. Considerations • 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"

18. Considerations • 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

19. Thank you Good luck! Any questions ?