Arturo Fernandez-Palacios Carmona
Deputy Director of Cartography
Statistics and Cartography Institute of Andalusia
Spain

Biography
Arturo Fernandez-Palacios Carmona, is a geographer and, since 1988, has been specialized in remote sensing, cartography and information systems applied to the evaluation of natural resources and in environmental management, performing this for the Regional Environmental Ministry of Andalusia. Since 2007, he is the Deputy Director of Cartography of the Statistics and Cartography Institute of Andalusia, organization in charge of coordinating the production of information necessary for all public policies of the regional government and of promoting its maximum diffusion and accessibility. Much of its current task is devoted to the implementation of the INSPIRE Directive in Andalusia.

Abstract
Towards the Definition of a Luso-Spanish Cross-Border SDI. Where to Start?

This communication aims to make a proposal to tackle the very first problems in the definition of a cooperation project between regions along the Portuguese-Spanish frontier, where the SDI technologies, including standardization schemes, play a leading role as a solution to the traditional difficulties of sharing and exchanging data produced at both sides of the border.

In this regard, beyond defining the technical aspects, the main problem to solve, when many potential agents and agencies are candidates to participate, is to specify the basic or sectorial orientation of project contents of a cross-border SDI. In addition it is necessary the proposal to be aligned with the strategic orientations of the EU (Europe 2020, Cohesion Policy, Territorial Cooperation Policy, etc.), in order to achieve financing support within the instruments of European cooperation programs.

In that sense, targeting criteria for the proposals of cross-border SDI technologies must be aligned with the basic lines of action that are common to the different strategic cooperation programs produced by the four Euroregions and Working Community composed by the different regions of the Portuguese-Spanish border, because, in so doing, the mainstreaming of the proposal and its alignment with the objectives of EU policies is guaranteed.

This communication selects the action lines defined in the existing program documents that are points of agreement among all of them, taking into consideration the importance SDI can play in their development as a criterion for their choice. The strategic lines of transversal actions selected under these criteria are:
- Sustainability of transport.
- Access to public services.
- Valorisation of natural and historical heritage for tourism development.
- Emergency management.
- Spatial planning for territorial cohesion.

Based on these common strategic lines, the communication conclude in proposing a list of priority themes to be incorporated into a potential Spanish Portuguese border SDI: transport networks (urban and interurban roads), natural and historical heritage elements, public services, and infrastructure for tourism. The definition of a protocol for datasets and services specifications following INSPIRE standards and the set up of the organizational aspects to guarantee the publication of all these data would be an important contribution for the achievement of the objectives specified in the strategic documents.