Ten years GEOPUNT

• Damiano Oldoni

Data portal Data Geospatial Vlaamse Overheid Flemish Authority 2024 Belgium Gent
Image by Databank Ondergrond Vlaanderen
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General

Moderator: Bart Rosseau, program manager Geo and Open Data Services, Digitaal Vlaanderen.

Welcome speech given by Jan Smedts, administrateur-generaal Digitaal Vlaanderen.

Geodata are nowadays essential data and Geopunt ensures that such data are found. But GEOPUNT is the result of the efforts of many different Flemish agencies and actors.

More than 1.2 millions users per year. From 400k in 2014 up to 1200K in 2022.

More than 700 data layers at the moment.

De impact van Geo informatie en Geopunt als draaischijf voor beleidsmakers

First part

Presenter: Goedele Van der Spiegel, director of Agentschap voor Natuur & Bos (ANB)

Data collect -> Data on a physical map -> Map on dvd-website

Data publication -> Data layers -> Data participation Data sharing -> Data standard -> Open data

The importance of Geopunt: the data layers. Centralized way to access Flemish relevant data. In this way you don’t need to access different websites. You get all information you need from one map.

Project ANB in development: Smart Nature. ANB would like to move to dynamic data: real time IoT sensor data. Why needed? Example: for real time fire detection. It’s not sci fiction: it’s already implemented in Portugal.

Of course, this brings us to Geo AI analysis and tools.

Another possibility in the future is the development of Digital Twins based on Geopunt data. Some examples of Digital Twin applications: easily and accurately calculate the nitrate impact of a planned factory/farm, the impact of a (new or wide spreading) species on the ecosystem.

The role of Geopunt:

  • building of Giga Twin, an acosystem of digital twins
  • More data
  • Onteroperability of data ecosystems
  • Data quality

Second part

Joeri Robbrecht, Policy Analyst at the Directorate General for the Environment - European Commission

Some history:

  • 1995: GIS-Vlaanderen starts. The support centre has started at VLM
  • 1998: the very first geodesk (geoloket in Dutch) of the regional plans are online
  • 2000: the GIS-Vlaanderen decree is executive
  • 2002: the Geo-Vlaandeern desks launched. The e-GOV avant la lettre
  • 2004: the support centre becomes AGIV
  • 2007: INSPIRE guidelines come into effect (see pdf in Dutch)
  • 2009: the GDI-Vlaanderen decree realizes INSPIRE
  • 2013: Geopunt, the GDI-Vlaanderen portal is online

Geopunt was and is an instrument made for the users. Example: a Geopunt QGIS plug-in (see QGIS plug-ins portal for an overview of all available plug-ins).

Five focus areas under the digital Europe Programme:

  • supercompting
  • AI
  • Cybersecurity and Trust
  • Advances Digital Skills
  • Ensuring the wide use of digital technologies across the economy and society

The creation of a single European market for data is made possibe by:

  • a European Data strategy: published on Feb 2020, see html and the pdf version
  • common European data spaces
  • a cross-sectoral legislative framework (Data Act, Data Governance Act)

Data intermediary is a role where Flanders could play again a pioneer role. See Athumi for example. Thanks of the EU Data Strategy the data intermediaries can ease the communication to people who are using their data (e.g. data collected by IoT) and empowering them so that they decide what sharing in a transparent way.

EU Open data legislation state of the art: Open Data Directive - implementation regulation EU 2023/138. English version: pdf, html.

Van data verzamelaars (databankbeheerders) naar service providers (data verbinden)

First part

Presenter: Katia Beringhs – Head GIS & IT applications of Flanders Environment Agency - VMM

Some challenges: floods and droughts

How to:

  • work in the fields
  • use of geodata

There are different data portals:

  • DOV
  • waterinfo.be
  • klimaat.vmm.be
  • …

Some of these data are centralized in Geopunt: fast overview of the most important information for municipalities, professionals, journalists, …

Many type data are needed to forecast flood levels. Many of them are included in the Flemish Digital Height Model, also available via Geopunt.

Extra context and graphs are published by Databank Ondergrond Vlaanderen (DOV), but Geopunt embeds these data layers as well.

VMM has used AI models in collaboration with Digitaal Vlaanderen/VITO for simulations.

Role of Geopunt:

  • Synergies
  • Further actualize geospatial data

In the future it would be nice to have chat bot alike instruments in Geopunt to improve the search functionalities.

Second part

Presenter: Danny Van Dessel - Port of Antwerp Bruges

Title: Digital Twin & Geodata in a port environment

Port of Antwerp Bruges, a framework:

  • it is the Belgium’s most important economic driver
  • 1400 companies
  • 164k jobs, direct and indirect

The port is user but also provider of open geodata.

Port makes use of digital twin; a virtual representation of a physicial object. Examples: digital twin of a device, but also digital twin of the entire territory of a port.

What were we aiming for? Situational & geospatial awareness.

The port can really speak about a digital nervous system:

  • UI & IOT
  • cameras
  • VHF
  • iNoses
  • sensors

All these data are communicated via a digital network (5G, among others).

We will evolve from Digital Twin to Digital Brain, from Descriptive (what is happening?) through Predicitive (What will happen?) to Prescriptive (How can we make it happen?)

APICA is the Advanced Port Information & Control Assistant. See more details and video in Smart technologies page.

Real-time data are important of course. For example, the real-time ship positions and their real size.

Port has also 3D models of all buildings.

Camera integration was not easy to realize due to privacy issues and short circuits, but it’s a fact now.

Port has set up its own KPIs to assess the “maturity” of its Digital Twin.

Innovatie in Ruimtelijke Informatie

First part

Presenter: Tanguy Coenen, scientific Data tech lead programme IMEC

The goal is to solve complex social challenges via (geo)spatial data. Some examples: floods, logistics for less pollution.

Three sections of this presentation:

  • decisions
  • algorithms
  • data

Launch of EU funding to update digital twins towards the Cityverse through living-in.eu AI pin

There are many data space projects in EU:

  • Data space 4.0
  • GREAT
  • Agri DATASPACE
  • …

The Data Act will ensure a physical data vault at the edge:

  • privcacy-preserving AI
  • personal data vaults
  • hardware guarantess (confidential computing)

DO you know that there is a Belgian Data Spaces Alliance? Partners:

Second part

Presenter: Laura D’heer, produce owner Geopunt

She provides many examples of people using Geopunt. Why? It’s handy. And “handy” is maybe the keyword of the evolution of Geopunt.

Long time ago, people who wanted to access public data needed to use GIRAF (geogrpahical Information Retrieval APplication for Flanders). Via GIRAF the citizen needed to send a data request. The data were given via CD-ROM.

10 years of users:

  • police
  • local authorities
  • estate agents, architects, lawyers
  • engineering firms, surveyors
  • secundary education

10 years of data:

  • 170 layers in 2013
  • almost 500 in 2017
  • 700+ in 2022

Some interesting layers (list here below way shorter than the one given by the presenter):