Spatial Data Infrastructures for environmental e-government services: The case of water abstractions authorisations

Abstract

Environment-related authorisations are a relevant issue for environmental management. They require a considerable effort by the authorities, and this might result in substantial delays for the citizens. Implementing those authorisation processes by means of e-government services would improve efficiency and, consequently, citizen satisfaction. Environment-related authorisations usually require a variety of geospatial information, and have to deal with administrative areas which do not match physical and ecological ones. They also have to integrate heterogeneous information in different formats, data models and languages, and provided by distinct organisations, even from different countries. This paper discusses how Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) can deal with these problems in the environmental domain, while improving the level of service provision in terms of e-government applications. This is even more relevant within the European Union where there is a legal mandate to establish an SDI to support environmental policies and activities with an impact on the environment. As a proof-of-concept, an application to request and manage water abstraction authorisations, based on an SDI, is demonstrated. This application is part of SDIGER, a cross-border inter-administration SDI to support the water framework directive information access for the Adour-Garonne and Ebro River basins, that was a pilot project for the EU INSPIRE Directive. The introduction of this transactional e-government service modifies the administrative process of granting authorisations: it allows to re-use the effort in data capture made by the applicants in their requests, facilitates the submission of more feasible applications and reduces the workload of the office staff.

The Governance Landscape of Geospatial E-Services—The Belgian Case

“…It is essential that the data quality can be trusted and has a controlled source of origin, as many policies are making use of this type of data [3]. More and more, however, there are different stakeholders with a clear interest in this geospatial data.…”

“…Affisco and Soliman [2], however, underlined that it is necessary to connect all the different e-services that have been developed since the beginning of the 21st century. Latre et al [3] argue that 'the level of maturity or sophistication of e-government services is not improving in those areas that require geospatial information . Furthermore, the authors underline that, although geospatial data are more and more available, 'their use and management is still more complex [ .…”

“…Furthermore, the data can be used to improve existing e-services with a geospatial component. Latre et al [3] underline, however, that geospatial data are often 'difficult to create, maintain and exploit, it is expensive, and presents scale, resolution, thematic and jurisdictional problems when used'. Therefore, one of the critical points in developing geospatial e-services is the existence of governance structures with established lines of coordination.…”

A Software Process Framework for Guiding the Construction Specification of Geospatial Databases

“…Many initiatives have addressed the various problems of organizing geospatial databases and making them available for different types of applications and environments [1]. For example, Latre et al [2] highlight that 'the level of maturity or sophistication of e-government services is not improving in those areas that require geospatial information' . The same authors mention that although geospatial data are becoming increasingly pervasive, managing and using them is complex.…”

The Strategy for the Development of the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the Czech Republic

“…Public authorities, which are the main creators and users of geospatial information, require the use of geospatial information from controlled sources and trusted quality for the implementation of e-government services [19,20]. For example, environmental geospatial information affects many issues related to human health and safety, so it is crucial that it is of good quality and comes from controlled sources [21].…”