Standards and Interoperability ensure the interworking of data and systems and the cooperation between people and organizations.

Work procedures, data and technical systems are not static but change over time and will need to be updated. Standards allow interfaces to be known that any change will be easy. Interoperability in this sense means that interfaces are well defined or open. Without standards and interoperability, interfaces between people or organizations, processes, data and technical systems are not known and users or operators depend on or are locked in to the provider. Benefit of using standards is cost-efficiency.

On the other hand, standards are complex and there are too many standards. In the countries of South-East Europe, standards are not well known.

AGISEE aims at creating and supporting understanding and use of standards in the area of SDI, being a point of contact for everybody who likes to know more about standards and how to use, apply and use them.

1. Collaboration with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), the major standards organization in the area of GIS and SDI. AGISEE is representative of OGC in South-East Europe.
2. Collaboration with INSPIRE and the respective European Institutions.
3. Awareness creation, information campaigns via lectures, workshops, conference lectures, courses.
4. Creation and maintaining a working group on standards.

1. White paper about standards and interoperability as introduction and guideline for the use of standards.
2. Leaflet informing about the importance of the subject.
3. Information on AGISEE's web pages.
4. Information campaigns, lectures and courses.

An open market exists when users or buyers can choose between different products or solutions, including open source solutions, offered by different vendors in an open and transparent way. Procurement procedures are open and well defined.
An Open Market supports standards and interoperability.

AGISEE aims to create understanding of the importance of an Open Market, availability of different products and solutions where users or buyers can choose the best offer according to their requirements. The vision is a market where tenders are defined only according to user requirements and where several vendors with different offers are active.

1. Information campaigns to inform about the importance of an Open Market.
2. Information on AGISEE's web site in particular about open source solutions.
3. Support to vendors if this increases competition in a country or region and if the vendor is member of AGISEE.
4. Support to users/buyers that they better understand requirements definition and market offers.

1. Information campaigns.
2. Information on the web pages of AGISEE.
3. Awareness of the players in a market.
4. Several vendors are active in a specific country of region.
5. Knowledge of open source solutions.

Education enables professionals in their working life to optimally fulfil their tasks for the benefit of the society, economy and environment, not only by applying craftsmanship but also by thinking creatively and learning permanently during the whole life in order to adapt to new developments and challenges. Education also enables professionals to work in multi-disciplinary teams and to understand different perspectives.

Technology is developing at a rapid pace today and requires permanent acquisition of new knowledge. Further, technical systems have to be applied in a context, where societal or economic rules and the law have to be respected. Right education makes it easy to understand different views and to adapt to changes.

University education has to be open to two sides. On the one side, there is the market demand coming from those organizations that employ graduated students, in particular industry and government. Market demand has to be respected that new professionals are able to integrate into the working life without great difficulty. On the other side, there is science and technology and university education has to provide a sound scientific and theoretic background and to be open to new developments.
The working life requires permanent education and training which would be provided by so-called continuous education. This type of education has to be available, to provide a choice to participants, to be up to date and affordable.

1. Working group on education.
2. Information campaigns, lectures about the importance of education.
3. Study and publication of education schemes to find out weaknesses of current education and recommend improvements.
4. Collaboration with other organizations, in particular international professional organizations.
5. Support to the establishment of continuous education schemes and courses.

1. White paper on education.
2. Information on the web site of AGISEE.
3. Recommendation papers.
4. Improved continuous education in South-East Europe.

Financing supports the development of spatial data infrastructures and the realization of good projects.

The first step is always the right planning. The following realization of any project can only be done with the right funds and very often, the own budget is not sufficient to completely realize a project or even a spatial data infrastructure.

Financing is more than only money. AGISEE provides information and creates awareness that users and those in need of funds would understand the right sources of financing and instruments and their mechanisms in order to be able to realize their projects.

1. Awareness creation, support and advice to understanding national and international funds and donors.
2. Provision of guidelines with an overview of donors, funding sources, instruments, mechanisms and potential beneficiaries.
3. Support and advice to those in need of financing.

1. White paper and guidelines on financing.
2. Information campaigns, information on the web site of AGISEE, awareness created.
3. Financing achieved for some SDIs in South-East Europe.