Centralising access to official national geospatial and land information from Europe would enable SMEs to be more competitive by cutting costs and boosting their ability to scale up and enter new markets, says a new report.

The research, carried out by Deloitte and EuroGeographics, the international not-for-profit membership organisation for European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities (NMCAs), found that SMEs have a strong appetite for more cross-border authoritative data which could help them improve their product and service offerings, save money and become more competitive.

“SMEs constitute 99% of European businesses and the EU cannot succeed in the transition to the data economy without the participation of SMEs in the digital transformation,” says Mick Cory, EuroGeographics Secretary General and Executive Director.

“The majority of SMEs participating in our study already use official map or cadastral information and said it was important that it was harmonised across national borders. There is strong demand for cross-border, edge-matched interoperable data however, SMEs currently face challenges in using and accessing authoritative information, including lack of resources for dealing with multiple NCMAs as well as costs for data cleaning.”

“Open geospatial data from official sources not only helps to overcome these issues but also provides a first step in realising the benefits of authoritative information. To demonstrate its potential, we are developing a single point of access to a number of European open data services. The Open ELS Project will offer the opportunity to try harmonised open geospatial information from official national sources and aims to provide certainty about what is free, charged for and under what terms and conditions.”

“Bysupporting the development of open public data as an engine for innovation, growth and transparent governance, our members are committed to filling an existing gap in terms of data availability, meeting increased demand for cross-border geospatial information at European level for both businesses and policymakers, and helping to accelerate the digital transformation and take up of the data economy.”

Key findings

As part of the Open ELS Project, EuroGeographics contacted 26 SMEs from across Europe. The findings were included in a Deloitte report on the Socio-Economic Impact of Open ELS.

​Respondents operated in a number of sectors, including: Energy and Infrastructure; Emergency Services; Transport; Real Estate; Finance and Insurance; and Environmental Services.

Almost all served customers in more than one European Country, with around one third serving more than five.

There was overwhelming interest in free cross-border services, in particular administrative units and areas, cadastral parcels and addresses delivered through a web service or API.

The survey highlighted four potential benefits: The possibility to improve existing products and services offering; The possibility to develop new products and services; The reduced time and costs of dealing with different national mapping and cadastral agencies; and the reduced time and costs for acquiring/accessing data.

The report is available at: https://bit.ly/2BhVshO

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Open ELS is a two-year project co-financed by the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility. It aims to improve the availability of geospatial information from the public authorities responsible for mapping, cadastre and land registries.

Open European Location Services (Open ELS) is a two-year project co-financed by the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility. It is developing pan-European data services using authoritative geospatial information and an associated business model. In doing so, it aims to improve the availability of geospatial information from the public authorities responsible for mapping, cadastre and land registries. The Project is focused on facilitating access to, and encouraging the take up and use of this information, and is strongly user orientated with a comprehensive programme of activities for SMEs.