In 2001 a new type of proposal was made to the Swiss Government to
make existing reference Geodata available for the entire territory for
only the cost of delivery. This proposition was made within the
framework of the implementation of the National Geodata Infrastructure.

What happened with this proposition? How was this proposal introduced
into a bill on Geo-information currently submitted to Parliament? How
much does the Federal Office spend annually to capture, manage and
make regularly available the Geodata for which they are responsible?
What parallels can be drawn between the provision of geographic data
and the provision of software of the type Open Source?

The author proposes to respond to these questions among others and
present the state of progress on the National Geodata Infrastructure
and in particular reflections currently carried out in Switzerland on
the subject of pricing policy of diffusion – traditionally or by the
Internet - of Geodata.  These reflections will also be placed in a
European context in particular in connection with the directive
« INSPIRE ».


Amstein Jean-Philippe
Born on 19th May 1952, Swiss nationality, married

1972 :Studied Surveying and Agricultural Engineering at the EPF
Lausanne, Switzerland

1978 : Registered Surveying Engineer

1980 : First post as a scientific assistant within the Federal
Directorate of Cadastral Surveying

1999-2004 : Manager of the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying,
Wabern, Switzerland

2002-2005 Manager of the Topography Division at the Federal Office of
Topography, Wabern, Switzerland

2005 : President of e-geo.ch (strategic controlling body), Switzerland

2006 : Director of the Federal Office of Topography, swisstopo,
Wabern, Switzerland