The HUMBOLDT project: implementing a framework for geo-spatial data harmonization and moving towards an ESDI

The European Community faces the growing need for available, reliable and interoperable geo-data, in the frame of the establishment of the future European Spatial Data Infrastructure. The need for harmonised geoinformation is therefore becoming a key topic in geosciences and geo-data users and producers. Putting INSPIRE principles into practice and following the developments of GMES, the HUMBOLDT project has the goal of supporting and advancing the process of definition and implementation of the ESDI, by providing a software framework for geo-data harmonisation and geo-services integration. The two-pronged approach of HUMBOLDT comprises a technical side of framework development and an application side of scenario testing and validation, through an iterative refinement of the harmonisation solutions provided within the project. The collaboration with other geoinformation projects, the integration of a Review and Advisory Board, the establishment of both a developer and user communities are among the project components that are intended to conduct the efforts of the HUMBOLDT consortium and focus the work towards efficient, reliable and economic solutions to the challenges of data harmonisation throughout Europe. The benefits ofHUMBOLDTwill range from political institutions to scientific research to commercial enterprises, reaching at the end of the path the European citizen, more and more an aware user of geoinformation data and services, soon to be included in the frame of the ESDI. 29 GeoInformation in Europe, M.A. Gomarsca (ed.) 2007 Millpress, Netherlands, ISBN 9789059660618