Policy Context and Legal Framework

The system is designed in compliance with the european guideline INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe): The spatial database model has been designed in accordance with the appendix I, II and III of this guideline. IDERioja is ready for the specifications of the Galileo positioning satellite system developed by the European Union, and the regulations that entails for data interchange: The cartography layers support simultaneously the coordinates systems ED 50 (European Datum of 1950) and ETRS 89 (European Terrestrial Reference System of 1989). It also provides interoperability with any organization that fulfills standards OGC (Open Geoespatial Consortium) for the interchange of spatial data.

Technology solution

The system applies the standards of the series of ISO 19100 rules. Metadata is managed within Oracle through a Java application in Internet, according to specifications of the ISO 19115 rule and the guidelines of the Geomatic Commission of the Higher Geographic Council for the Metadata Spanish Core (N.E.M.). The European guideline INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe) has also been considered. INSPIRE provides the guidelines for the development and the harmonization of the spatial information in Europe. The IDERioja project has been developed following the priorities defined in the appendix I, II and III of this guideline. The IDERioja project has considered the ISO 19128 and the WMS standard of the Open Geospatial Consortium, which supports the development of Spatial Data Infrastructures, for offering a real time access to the geographic information available. The users request of information of the database is made through a server WMS/OGC to which it is possible to access with any compatible visualizer of maps OGC. The Government of La Rioja has developed its own visualizer that, using the technology SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), allows the query of the geographic and alphanumeric information of the database.

Impact

The original situation was based on cartographic information islands, in propietary systems and restricted accesses. We have gone to a unique, centralized, integrated and accessible repository. What makes different this system is that any citizen can access through Internet, in real time, to the core of the spatial database of the Government of La Rioja, and get alphanumeric and geographic information without any specialized geomatics tool. The public and free access of the citizen and the companies to the geographic information of the regional administration means: - An increase of the transparency of the administrative management. - Geometric Quality of the works that are supported on cartographic documents of the Government of La Rioja. - Geometric Coherence of the information generated by different producers from data. - Reduction in price of the projects that require geographic information. - Better quality control because the information is exhaustive tested.

Track record of sharing

This philosophy of public service has set a precedent in Spain, which is being followed by other regional administrations. Following this model, the municipalities of La Rioja also distribute without cost the urban cartography through www.iderioja.org.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - Opening the access to information to citizens generates an immediate participation. It generates confidence in a transparent management and it brings the Administration near to the citizen. Our experience has proved us that citizens appreciate this confidence and are tolerant with possible errors. Lesson 2 - Cartographic data must be demystified, and be seen as normal information in a database. Lesson 3 -The users who use this system experience the benefits of the new architecture. They are the best salesmen of the change.