Survey of key GI players within Europe - EC GI & GIS Portal

In the private sector ESRI, Intergraph and Infoterra are all key players in the German GI market. ESRI
Geoinformatik GmbH (http://ESRI-Germany.de) was founded in the mid-70's and in the following
decades has moved from a service provider to a software supplier and finally to a technology partner.
Initially, ESRI Germany focused on environmental engineering projects. By developing solutions for
the newly founded National Park in Berchtesgaden, they completed the first GIS-based project in
Germany. The company also contributed to the construction of the country's first mobile
telecommunications network, DETECON. Its partnership network (50 throughout Germany and
Switzerland) have created “practice-orientated solutions for many branches of industry” 31 . Customers
include T-Mobil, ADAC, DaimlerCrysler, GM, VW, and most canton authorities of Switzerland.
In April 2003 Intergraph Deutschland (http://www.intergraph.de) announced that Intergraph had
acquired the company Terra Map Server GmbH (Dortmund, Germany). Terra Map Server serves as a
central GI data and application services portal with 24x7 availability and more than five terabytes of
online geo-data. GI products and services include a broad range of information layers, such as
orthophotos, cadastre and NAVTECH data. Users include organisations from the real estate, retail,
utilities, government, logistics and communications sectors, including PLEdoc, Ruhrgas, Evans &
Sutherland, Vodafone, Immocheck Immobilienbewertungsportal and Prospect Bausparkasse. Terra
Map Server has been chosen to serve as a hosting platform for the location-based services project for
the 2006 world soccer championship.
The Deutsches Fernerkundungsdatenzentrum (DFD) (www.caf.dlr.de) is the German Remote
Sensing Data Centre of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and as principle supplier of space
imagery has a key role to play in the German GI market. It has offices in the DLR locations at
Oberpfaffenhofen, Neustrelitz, Köln-Porz and Berlin-Adlershof. The DFD develops products and
system solutions for applications related to the environment, security (humanitarian aid) and GI, with
an emphasis on agriculture, forestry, land degradation, planning, and ecological cartography. Data
from optical sensors (Landsat-ETM, IRS-LISS, etc.) as well as DFD's own aerial spectroscopic data
(gathered with the DAIS instrument) are utilised, as are radar data from the Shuttle Radar Topography
Mission SRTM and ERS and ENVISAT data for digital elevation models and special research topics
(Antarctic). The DFD also coordinates the Hysens Large Scale Facility on behalf of the European
Union. The areas of technical specialisation are:
• Developing and operating a global network of receiving stations for remote sensing data;
• Supplying an information technology infrastructure for sustainable safeguarding of the data
archives of the National Remote Sensing Data Library;
• Providing online access to data and products via the Internet;
• Developing processes and methods to operationally generate customized products in the
fields of environment, security, geoinformation, climate and atmosphere;
• Realizing application projects in close cooperation with partners from the science,
government, public and private sectors;
• Promoting the scientific and commercial potential of remote sensing;
• Arranging services in the field of remote sensing.
DFD recently announced that, as part of DSL, it will operate as EUSI’s (European Space Imaging)
Regional Operations Centre. EUSI, headquartered in Munich, Germany, is a commercial Regional
Affiliate of Space Imaging Inc. The company was established October 2002 with the main investor
being Space Imaging Middle East LLC of Dubai, UAE. EUSI has two main strategic technology
partners: GAF AG of Munich, Germany, and DLR/DFD. EUSI a supplier of IKONOS satellite imagery
and derived information products.
Launched in January 2001, Infoterra is a 100% owned subsidiary of EADS Astrium, Europe's leading
space company. Infoterra was formed by integrating the 'Earth Observation Services' department of
Astrium, Germany and the National Remote Sensing Centre Ltd. (NRSC Ltd) UK. Infoterra is
comprised of Infoterra Ltd in the UK and Infoterra GmbH (www.infoterra-global.com) in Germany and
has a number of other partners around the world, including joint ventures in the Arabian Gulf and
Hungary. Infoterra GmbH is a founding member of GEOkomm, a federation of the geo-information
industry in Berlin / Brandenburg. Although it gets involved with a wide range of GI products and
services Infoterra specialises in airborne and satellite data, with its main customer sectors being
31 www.bizzcontact.com
Survey of key GI players within Europe Page 36