INTRODUCTION

The United Nations have declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity [1], as a unique opportunity to increase understanding of the vital role that biodiversity plays in sustaining life on Earth. Numerous initiatives and celebrations have been hosted since the beginning of the year and across the globe, and more are planned throughout 2010.

The INSPIRE Team would like to dedicate the first-ever event as a contribution to the International Year of Biodiversity, stimulating biodiversity experts and geomatics experts to collaborate on a volunteering basis.

These specialists will be called upon to participate in an exercise in which they will put to the test existing data sets and services in order to create original and innovative web-based solutions to expose various aspects of biodiversity and biodiversity protection.

OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of this first INSPIRE mash-up event are to:

- show the added value of INSPIRE data and services that are being made available
- promote in an international setting interesting mash-up ideas, together with the teams which have created and elaborated them
- foster the interaction between biodiversity experts using INSPIRE as a framework for cooperation
- possibly, identify data gaps or needs which are not well addressed by existing data and/or services, thus exposing future directions for research, data collection or publication, and other topics.

WHERE AND WHEN

The INSPIRE mash-up event is divided in two phases: a preparatory phase, and a final phase. The preparatory part will take place via web, using the INSPIRE Forum [2] as the main medium for communication. The final part will take place during the INSPIRE Conference, to be held in Krakow, Poland, between June 22 and June 25, 2010. [3]

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE

Anybody who is registered to the INSPIRE Forum can participate.

PRIZES

The INSPIRE Team will make available gifts for the best three results.

Key contributions to the mash-up event will be announced during the INSPIRE Conference during the breaks in the plenary room, and published on the INSPIRE Forum web site.

TIMELINE

• 26 April: INSPIRE mash-up event launched
• 26 April - 1 June: INSPIRE mash-up runners up start interactions and preparations on the INSPIRE Forum website.
• 1 June: cut-off date for submission of mash-up ideas
• 2 June- 15 June: evaluation of main ideas (up to five ideas) for conduction of final part of the exercise
• 22 June: Krakow: Introductory session to final phase of the INSPIRE mash-up event
• 23-24 June: mash-up participants attending in person the INSPIRE conference will proceed to work/collaborate during the event
  (participants not attending the conference will still be interacting remotely)
• 25 June: Results of the are presented in the closing plenary session of the INSPIRE conference.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The coordinators of this first INSPIRE mash-up event areArnulf Christl andAndrea Giacomelli.Please contact inspire-mashup@jrc.ec.europa.eu for more information.

REFERENCES

[1] http://www.cbd.int/2010/about/

[2] http://inspire-forum.jrc.ec.europa.eu/

[3] http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/events/conferences/inspire_2010/

Last updated 697 days ago by andrea giacomelli