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From today, September 15, registration is open for one of the most important events in the geospatial sector in the Iberian Peninsula. The XVI Iberian Conference on Spatial Data Infrastructures (JIIDE 2025) will be held in Oviedo from 12 to 14 November 2025. This annual meeting represents a unique opportunity to explore the latest trends in spatial data reuse, especially in the context of the application of artificial intelligence to territorial knowledge.

Since its first edition in 2011, the JIIDEs have evolved as a result of collaboration between the Direção-Geral do Território de Portugal, the National Geographic Institute of Spain through the National Center for Geographic Information, and the Government of Andorra. In this sixteenth edition, the Ministry of Territorial Planning, Urban Planning, Housing and Citizens' Rights of  the Principality of Asturias and the University of Oviedo also join, thus consolidating an initiative that brings together hundreds of professionals from the Public Administration, the private sector and the academic field every year.

For three days, experts with proven experience and technical knowledge in geographic information will share their most innovative developments, work methodologies and success stories in the management and reuse of spatial data.

Two axes: artificial intelligence and the INSPIRE and HVDS regulatory framework

The central theme of this edition, "AI and territory: exploring the new frontiers of spatial knowledge", reflects the natural evolution of the sector towards the incorporation of emerging technologies. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced analytics algorithms are radically transforming the way we process, analyze, and extract value from geospatial data.

This orientation towards AI is not accidental. The publication and use of geospatial data makes it possible to harness one of the most valuable digital assets for economic development, environmental monitoring, competitiveness, innovation and job creation. When this data is combined with artificial intelligence techniques, its potential multiplies exponentially.

The conference takes place at a particularly relevant time for the open data ecosystem. The INSPIRE Directive, together with Directive (EU) 2019/1024 on open data and re-use of public sector information, has established a regulatory framework that explicitly recognises the economic and social value of digital geospatial data.

The evolution in the publication of high-value datasets marks an important milestone in this process. These sets, characterized by their great potential for reuse, should be available free of charge, in machine-readable formats and through application programming interfaces (APIs). Geospatial data occupies a central position in this categorisation, underlining its strategic importance for the European open data ecosystem.

JIIDE 2025 will devote particular attention to presenting practical examples of re-use of these high-value datasets , both through the new OGC APIs and through traditional download services and established interoperable formats. This practical approach will allow attendees to learn about real cases of implementation and their tangible results.

Miscellaneous Program: Use Cases, AI, and Geospatial Data Reuse

You can also check the program here. Among the planned activities, there are sessions ranging from fundamental technical aspects to innovative applications that demonstrate the transformative potential of this data. The activities are organized into five main themes:

1. Spatial data structure and metadata.

2. Data management and publication.

3. Development of spatial  software.

4. Artificial intelligence.

5. Cooperation between agents.

Some of the highlighted topics are project management and coordination, where corporate systems such as the SIG of the Junta de Andalucía or the SITNA of the Government of Navarra will be presented. Earth observation will also feature prominently, with presentations on the evolution of the National Plan for Aerial Orthophotography (APNOA) programme  and advanced deep learning image processing techniques.

On the other hand, thematic visualisers also represent another fundamental axis, showing how spatial data can be transformed into accessible tools for citizens. From eclipse visualizers to tools for calculating the solar potential of rooftops, developments will be presented that demonstrate how the creative reuse of data can generate services of high social value.

Following the annual theme, the application of AI to geospatial data will be approached from multiple perspectives. Use cases will be presented in areas as diverse as the automatic detection of sports facilities, the classification of LiDAR point clouds, the identification of hazardous materials such as asbestos, or the optimization of urban mobility.

One of the most relevant sessions for the open data community will focus specifically on "Reuse and Open Government". This session will address the integration of spatial data infrastructures into open data portals, spatial data metadata according to the GeoDCAT-AP standard, and the application of data quality regulations.

Local governments play a key role in the generation and publication of spatial data. For this reason, the JIIDE 2025 will dedicate a specific session to the publication of local data, where municipalities such as Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao or Cáceres will share their experiences and developments.

In addition to the theoretical sessions, the conferences include practical workshops on specific tools, methodologies and technologies. These workshops, lasting 45 minutes to an hour, allow attendees to experiment directly with the solutions presented. Some of them address the creation of custom web geoportals and others, for example, the implementation of OGC APIs, through advanced visualization techniques and metadata management tools.

Participate in person or online

The JIIDEs maintain their commitment to open participation, inviting both researchers and professionals to present their tools, technical solutions, work methodologies and success stories. In addition, the JIIDE 2025 will be held in hybrid mode, allowing both face-to-face participation in Oviedo and virtual monitoring.

This flexibility, maintained from the experiences of recent years, ensures that professionals throughout the Iberian territory and beyond can benefit from shared knowledge. Participation remains free, although prior registration is required for each session, roundtable or workshop.

Starting today, you can sign up and take advantage of this opportunity to learn and exchange experiences on geospatial data. Registration is available on the official website of the event: https://www.jiide.org/web/portal/inicio

The importance of data in today's society and economy is no longer in doubt. Data is now present in virtually every aspect of our lives. This is why more and more countries have been incorporating specific data-related regulations into their policies: whether they relate to personal, business or government data, or to regulate a range of issues such as who can access it, where it can be stored, how it should be protected, and so on.

However, when these policies are examined more closely, significant differences can be observed between them, depending on the main objectives that each country sets when implementing its data policies. Thus, all countries recognise the social and economic value of data, but the policies they implement to maximise that value can vary widely. For some, data is primarily an economic asset, for others it can be a means of innovation and modernisation, and for others a tool for development. In the following, we will review the main features of their data policies, focusing mainly on those aspects related to fostering innovation through the use of data.

A recent report by the Centre for Innovation through Data compares the general policies applicable in several countries that have been selected precisely because of differences in their vision of how data should be managed: China, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

CHINA

Its efforts are focused on building a strong domestic data economy to strengthen national competitiveness and maintain government control through the collection and use of data. It has two agencies from which data policy is directed: the Cyberspace Administration (CAC) and the National Data Administration (NDA).

The main policies governing data in the country are:

• The five-year national informatisation plan, published by the end of 2021 to increase data collection in the national industry.
• The data Security Law (DSL), effective from September 2021, which gives special protection to all data considered to have an impact on national security.
• The cybersecurity law (CSL), effective since June 2017, prohibits online anonymisation and also grants government access to data when required for security purposes.
• The personal Information Protection Act (PIPL), effective from November 2021, which establishes the obligation to keep data on national territory.

INDIA

Its main objective is to use data policy to unlock a new economic resource and drive the modernisation and development of the country. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy) governs and oversees data policies in the country, which we summarise below:

• The digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023, which aims to enable the processing of personal data in a way that recognises both the right of individuals to protect their data and the need to process it for legitimate purposes.
• The data protection and empowerment architecture (DEPA), which was launched in 2020 and gives citizens greater control over their personal data by establishing intermediaries between information users and providers, as well as providing consent to companies based on a set of permissions established by the user.
• The non-personal data governance framework also adopted in 2020, which states that the benefits of data should also accrue to the community, not just to the companies that collect the data. It also indicates that high-value data and data related to the public interest (e.g. energy, transport, geospatial or health data) should be shared.

SINGAPORE

It aims to use data as a vehicle to attract new companies to operate within the country. The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is the entity in charge of managing the data policies in this case, which includes the control of the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC).

Among the most relevant regulations in this case we can find:

• The personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), which was last updated in 2021 and is based on consent, but also provides for some exceptions for legitimate public interest.
• The trust Framework for Data Sharing published in 2019, which sets out standards for data sharing between companies (including templates for establishing legal sharing agreements), albeit with certain protections for trade secrecy.
• The data Portability Obligation (DPO), which will soon be incorporated into the PDPA to establish the right to transmit personal data to another service (provided it is based in the country) in a standard format that facilitates the exchange.

UNITED KINGDOM

It wants to boost the country's economic competitiveness while protecting the privacy of its citizens' data. The Office of the Information information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the body in charge of data protection and data sharing guidelines.

In the case of the United Kingdom, the legislative framework is very broad:

• The core privacy principles, such as data portability or conditions of access to personal data, are covered by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of 2016, the law of Data Protection Act (DPA) of 2018, the Electronic Communications Privacy Regulation of 2013 and the proposed Digital Data and Information Protection Act still under discussion.
• The law on Digital Economy established in 2017, which defines the rules for sharing data between public administrations for the development of public services.
• The Data Sharing Code which came into force in October 2021 and sets out good practices to guide companies when sharing data.
• The Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which initially came into force in 2018 requiring banks to share their data in standardised formats to encourage the development of new services.

EUROPEAN UNION

It uses a human rights-based approach to data protection. The aim is to prioritise the creation of a single market that facilitates the free flow of data between member states. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the European Data Protection and Innovation through Data Board are the main bodies responsible for supervising data protection in the Union.

Again, the applicable rules are very broad and have continued to expand recently:

• The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which has become the most comprehensive and descriptive regulation in the world, and is based on the principles of legality, fairness, transparency, containment, minimisation, accuracy, storage, integrity, confidentiality and accountability.
• The programme for the Digital Decadeto promote a single, interoperable, interconnected and secure digital market.
• The Declaration on Digital Rights and Principleswhich expands on the digital and data rights already existing in the standard of protection.
• The Data Act and the Data Governance Regulation which facilitate accessibility to data horizontally accessibility to data horizontally, i.e. across and within sectors, following EU principles. The Data Law drives harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data, clarifying who can create value from data and under what conditions. The Data Governance Regulation regulates the secure exchange of data sets held by public bodies over which third party rights concur, as well as data brokering services and the altruistic transfer ofdata for the benefit of society for the benefit of society.

The keys to promoting innovation

In general, we could conclude that those data policies that adopt a more innovation-oriented approach are characterised by the following:

1. Data protection based on different levels of risk, prioritising the protection of the most sensitive personal data, such as medical or financial information, while reducing regulatory costs for less sensitive data.
2. Sharing frameworks for personal and non-personal data, encouraging data sharing by default in both the public and private sector and removing barriers to voluntary data sharing.
3. Facilitating the flow of data, supporting an open and competitive digital economy.
4. Proactive data production policies, encouraging the use of data as a factor of production by collecting data in various sectors and avoiding data gaps.

As we have seen, data policies have become a strategic issue for many countries, not only helping to reinforce their goals and priorities as a nation, but also sending signals about what their priorities and interests are on the international stage. Striking the right balance between data protection and fostering innovation is one of the key challenges. Before addressing their own policies, countries are advised to invest time in analysing and understanding the various existing approaches, including their strengths and weaknesses, and then take the most appropriate specific steps in designing their own strategies.

Content prepared by Carlos Iglesias, Open data Researcher and consultant, World Wide Web Foundation. The contents and views expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the author.

This report published by the European Data Portal (EDP) explores existing and emerging developments and initiatives around data sharing using data spaces. 

The objective is twofold: to identify the owners of open data involved in the implementation of data spaces and to reflect on the role that open data portals (with special attention to data.europa.eu) could play in this implementation. 

After documentary research and interviews with the promoters of data spaces, it is analyzed how data.europa.eu could be positioned in the common European data spaces that are emerging. 

The report is available at this link: "Data.europa.eu y los espacios comunes de datos europeos: un informe sobre retos y oportunidades"