EFFECTS OF INSPIRE ON THE GERMAN STATE SURVEY OFFICES AND THE SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE ON THE NATIONAL AND REGIONAL LEVEL

Through the gradual transformation to the information age all branches of the public sector will face fundamental challenges in the following years. In the field of geographical information changes include the transition from closed geographical information systems (GIS) to interoper-able, interconnected GIS. Multiplicities of spatial information are managed in the present in closed systems. This system of special and user-oriented data management imposes high additional costs. Furthermore, information is difficult to find and to access for third parties. To create an effective and efficient new system substantial additional expenses are necessary. Spatial information and services can be made available for a large number of users thanks to the progress of the informa-tion technology and the availability of the internet in private households. A range of technological, political and institutional measures are prerequisites for the installa-tion of spatial information systems. The required methods, data, technologies, standards, financial and human resources must be made available to ensure the extraction and utilisation of spatial in-formation to fulfil the requirements of the economy in the information age (AdV, 2002). This article describes updated results of the authors research for the second state exam in the field of “land survey and cartography ” (Loeffelholz, 2004). The initiatives of the state survey of-fices to create a spatial data infrastructure (SDI) in the context of INSPIRE are presented and prob-lems are discussed