Social Validation of INSPIRE Standards Using Online Communities

Abstract

This paper describes an approach using online social networks for a participatory, social validation process of INSPIRE Annex III Data Structures in the habitats-related data themes of Sea Regions, Bio-geographical Regions, Habitats and Biotopes, and Species Distribution. Seven European pilot areas dealing with habitats-related data provide the basis for this validation process, which is then supported and facilitated through the use of different social networks. The platform strategy, based on the concept of aggregated communities, is described as well. Various communities provide the basis for involving interested users in the discussion and validation process and thereby help to put the discussions from a local or regional to an international level. The open approach that has been chosen tries to reduce the barriers of participating in the discussions as much as possible in order to discover the real requirements for the pilot areas. Based on these findings, geo-spatial applications are provided to allow for active testing and experimenting as important part of the discussion and validation process.