4.1: Shared Environmental Information System

To modernise the current reporting systems towards a network of decentralised systems providing online access to data that are managed as close to the source as possible and improving quality and the timeliness of information.

Other Information:

EEA and Eionet will work together with the European Commission and other international stakeholders to implement the system. EEA will achieve this by building further on the systems and tools developed for reporting (Reportnet), the emerging initiatives related to e-Government, the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (Inspire), GMES, the Global Earth Observation (GEO) and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). Analysis - In February 2008, the European Commission adopted a Communication proposing to improve, modernise and streamline current environmental information systems by establishing a European Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS). SEIS is a distributed, integrated, web-enabled information system based on a network of public information providers sharing environmental data and information. It is built on existing e-infrastructure, systems and services in the Member States and EU institutions, especially those of the EEA and Eionet. The system aims to tie in better all existing data flows and information related to EU environmental policies and legislation including the implementation of the infrastructure for spatial information in Europe Inspire, and other data and real time observations related to emerging environmental priorities, and services coming from GMES. It will provide easily accessible information to both policy-makers and citizens. A major challenge will be to develop SEIS as a platform that also can be used for two-way communication on the environment, namely enabling users to upload and share their information with others from local to global level. Action - We will achieve our objective by: • working together with Eionet, the European Commission (primarily through the Group of Four and the ten Environmental Data Centres) and the EEA's European Topic Centres on the implementation of this distributed system for sharing information from local to global level based on interoperability; • progressively adapt Reportnet towards a tool to support the proposed revised standardised reporting directive and to speed up the process of data availability online; • focusing on our European data management, including streamlining priority dataflows with Eionet, coordination of the in-situ component of GMES and the management of 5 thematic Environmental Data Centres to offer a wealth of European environmental datasets in suitable formats for various users; • further developing our spatial data infrastructure in line with the forthcoming implementing rules of Inspire, to become the backbone for SEIS; • developing applications and services related to air, marine and terrestrial environmental monitoring and observations using improved in‑situ and space-based monitoring derived from GMES and GEO/GEOSS; • ensuring system maintenance and management, providing high quality 24/7 data and information services; and • continuously improving our EEA website, as main portal for providing timely and relevant information on Europe's environment.

Indicator(s):

Indicator:1

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