About Us
About EGDI
The European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI) was established to improve access to geological knowledge across Europe through harmonisation, standardisation and cooperation between Geological Survey Organisations.
EGDI plays a key role in developing common geological standards, vocabularies and classifications, enabling consistent interpretation and use of geological information across national borders. It supports European and international initiatives such as UNECE and the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC).
Through capacity building, training and guidance, EGDI strengthens expertise in applied geology and promotes the use of harmonised geological data for research, policy development and sustainable resource management.
The European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI) is a collaborative initiative aimed at facilitating the sharing, integration, and accessibility of geological information across Europe. It serves as a comprehensive platform that brings together geological data from various sources, including national geological surveys, research institutions, and other geological organizations.
EGDI focuses on harmonizing geological data standards and promoting interoperability to ensure seamless exchange of information among different stakeholders. By creating a unified framework, it enables geoscientists, policymakers, researchers, and the public to access a wealth of geological data efficiently.
The infrastructure emphasizes the development of standardized metadata, data models, and communication protocols to enhance the compatibility of diverse geological datasets. This interoperability ensures that geological information from different countries and regions can be easily combined and analyzed for a more comprehensive understanding of Earth’s subsurface.
EGDI plays a crucial role in supporting geological research, environmental management, and natural resource exploration. It fosters collaboration among European countries, promoting the efficient utilization of geological data for various applications, including hazard assessment, land-use planning, and sustainable resource management.
The infrastructure also contributes to the European Union’s broader initiatives related to environmental monitoring, climate change adaptation, and the development of a common European geological knowledge base. By promoting the open sharing of geological data, EGDI aims to advance scientific understanding, facilitate informed decision-making, and address challenges related to Earth sciences at a pan-European level.
EGDI was launched in June 2016 in a Version 1 and has since then been extended to include more data sets.
The operation and maintenance of EGDI has in recent years been funded by EuroGeoSurveys and the operations, maintenance, and developments are carried out by the following EuroGeoSurveys members: GEUS, CGS, GeoZS, IGME, BRGM and BGS. The work in carried out in close cooperation with EGS’ Spatial Information Expert Group.
EGDI formed the basis for the Information Platform developed in the GIP-project under the GeoERA programme which ran from July 2018 till October 2021. The GIP-project substantially extended the functionality of EGDI.
In September 2022 a new 5 year Horizon Europe Coordination and Support Action called “Geological Service for Europe (GSEU)” started and this project will further develop EGDI.
Data about raw materials from EGDI are accessible on the EC Joint Research Center’s Raw Materials System (RMIS). EGDI will furthermore provide the gateway from the Geological Survey Organisations and their geological data and digital services to the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) when that platform becomes operational.
More than 60 people are currently working in EGDI (WP7 of the GSEU) to create the repositories, tools and services that will allow access to the information provided by geoscientific projects and the rest of the GSEU WPs.
- EGDI Core (lead by Jasna Šinigoj from GeoZS). This task will define the overall architecture and guide and support users about standards, being FAIR, etc.
- EGDI Thematic (lead by Stephan Gruijters from TNO). This task will be the main link with the R&I thematic WPs. In close collaboration with their scientists new thematic functionality will be developed iteratively to facilitate optimal use of new and extended datasets delivered to EGDI, provide access to associated knowledge and support informed decisions on policy issues related to these themes.
- EGDI interfaces (lead by Matt Harrison from BRGM). This task will develop the EGDI Hub to ensure the connectivity to and interoperability with a wide range of key European stakeholders including but not limited to The EU Open Data Portal, The EU Inspire Geoportal, EOSC, RMIS and DestinE. Particularly close links, interoperability and scientific use cases will be co-developed with EPOS, with which several Geological Surveys are already closely engaged.
The execution of the work in the different tasks is carried out through various cross-cutting activities:
- Requirements Analysis (lead by Margarita Sanabria from IGME, Geological Survey of Spain)
- Data analysis and Standards (lead by Carlo Cipolloni from ISPRA)
- System analysis (lead by Jørgen Christian Salomonsen and Jakob Molander from GEUS)
- Software development (lead by Tjerk Heijboer from GEUS)
- User support (lead by James Passmore from BGS)
In addition, working groups have been established to focus on advancing specific issues or tasks within the project. These groups are formed to bring together experts from various partners to address complex issues, develop strategies, make decisions and drive progress towards specific objectives.
