The Joan Blaeu @ Prize - Call for Entries

Geo-Application Award 2007
Joan Blaeu @ Prize
JB@P Competition

Challenge of the Prize: The best SDI realization using UNSDI and INSPIRE principles with respect to sustainable regional development and rural knowledge society building. The best three applications will be awarded by certificate and trophy. Information about all eligible applications will be published on CDs, about awarded applications also on Conference pages, EFITA and UNSDI and INSPIRE pages.

Call Deadline: April 15th 2007

1. General Background and Purpose
The overall purpose of the Joan Blaeu @ Prize, established in the context of the UNGIWG-UNSDI and INSPIRE programmes, is to select examples of best practices in applied Geo-informatics, with emphasis on underdeveloped rural and suburban areas and their population. The reason, why rural and suburban areas were selected for the 2007 Prize is, that rural regions are usually and particularly in the technological sense, underdeveloped, the main focus being generally on development of big cities. The rural areas cover 80 percent of Europe and coverage of other continents like Africa, South America and Asia is higher. Most of environmental applications are also related to rural regions. So there is chance for exchanges of experiences among countries and regions. The aims of the Prize are: to promote existing, in fact working, accessible and intelligible solutions, based on open technologies and standards, to minimise the negative impacts of e-exclusion in society, to improve the overall knowledge of the applied geo- and environmental sciences, to support inexpensive yet complete solutions, and effective working groups. Organizers seek to spotlight positive, creative tools and environments for mastering existing geo-information and knowledge databases, to highlight ongoing live projects serving to better territorial management, nature conservation, regional development, education, to better understanding the top-down and bottom-up processes between the global-local levels, to understanding the position, the active role of GIS users, and offering solutions to existing problems. The secondary objectives are an improved level of service and infrastructural environment, including the spatial data infrastructure, for improving quality of life, bridging cultural differences, and support to local economies.
Sustainability principles here refer to the environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects of applied SDI, and a suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term sustainability.
Thus, sustainable SDI should:
1) make optimal use of geo-data and geo-information resources that constitute key elements in administration, economic development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve biodiversity, and the nature.
2) respect the socio-cultural authenticity, conserve and promote the built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to multi-linguality, and inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.
3) highlight and account long-term economic intentions, geographic dislocation of economy, its sources and impacts, distribution of facilities and networks providing socio-economic benefits, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services.

2. Eligibility and Award Criteria
This competition invites all types and sizes of educational institutions, administrations, companies, and/or NGOs active in any region of the world, using geographical information at any level, from local through regional, national, continental, to global level. The application should be submitted by organizations providing or facilitating geographical content, or geo-information services to end-users. Special attention will be paid to suburban and rural territories.
To be eligible the projects must meet the following criteria:
They must have been executed within last 3 years, in the period from January 2004 to April 2007;
They should be focused on overall award objectives;
They must be submitted by an individual representing the applicant, or a team.
The application must be web-based.
The application must be written in English language and sent in digital form.
The application must be delivered as an accessible web address of the application;
A poster describing and illustrating the application printed in A0 format and its digital copy is recommended;
Web address has to be given in order to verify the functioning of the system.

Award Criteria
The overall criteria are fundamental in regards to credibility of the award, and shall reflect the best-practice objectives of complex and proper spatial data infrastructure building, the accessible and user-friendly web-based applications, and its sustainability. An application submitted to this call will have to comply with a set of criteria based on the SDI aims and recommendations. The jury will judge the entries according to the main criteria categories, described here below. Applicants should describe, demonstrate or illustrate what they do in relation to proving the usability and accessibility of their project. Thus, applicants and their projects and applications shall meet these requirements:
Application addresses broader community and gives access to spatial data to decision makers, stakeholders, organisation provided services in regions or citizens of regions as farmers, foresters, businessmen’s but also tourists;
Has positive influence on sustainable development or knowledge capacity building in rural regions;
Application is in live practical usage;
Application is interoperable and distinctively simplify multiple using of the spatial data content based on UNSDI and/or INSPIRE principles;
Application supports implementing UNSDI and/or INSPIRE principles in rural regions;
Application has some proven efficiency, applicant enclose credit references, evaluating reports and the like.

3. JB@P Judging Procedures and Evaluation Criteria
In order to make the adjudication process smooth, a selection process will be performed. The judging procedure will be based on the expertise of the pre-selection committee and an independent international expert jury evaluation.
Pre-selection
The pre-selection committee constituted of UNSDI, INSPIRE, EFITA, ICA, CAGI, and ISZL/ISAF conference task force, will perform pre-screening and scoring. Pre-selection criteria are primarily based on yes/no questions, but also a qualitative judgement. After the pre-screening, all eligible proposals will be selected for the second round. All entrants will be informed of the outcome, including the nominees. Pre-selection (eligibility) criteria:
1. Adherence to entry requirements (submission deadline, written presentation in English, PowerPoint file in English, printed poster in English(with digital copy), web application, etc.)
yes/no
2. Compliance with the concept of geo-application
yes/no
3. Compliance with the SDI principles
yes/no
4. Project is innovative, brings a new quality and deserves highlighting as good practice
yes/no

Jury evaluation
In the second stage, the jury will evaluate and score the applications, and nominate three positions of finalists. The jury will use a qualitative set of evaluation criteria. The jury will evaluate applications and in the frame of a jury meeting nominate the three finalists. The evaluation and selection is based on the written presentations of the applicants. Among applications being eligible for the JB@P, three applications achieving the three highest total scores shall be considered for the third final round. The ranking of the proposals will normally follow the total score obtained; a maximum of 100 points can be given to each proposal in the evaluation, distributed as follows:
1 Technological, innovative level and originality of the project
0 to 25 points
2. Implementation of UNSDI and INSPIRE principles
0 to 25 points
3. Application supports co-operation between different users
0 to 10 points
4. Level of use in operational practice
0 to 20 points
5. Possibility of extending in other countries and regions
0 to 10 points
6. User feedback
0 to 10 points
TOTAL SCORE
0 to 100 points
Each proposal will be evaluated by five independent Jury members and result score will be average of these individual scores.
In order to narrow the 10-15 nominees down to a winner, the finalists can be asked to submit more detailed information. All nominees will be informed of the outcome, including the finalists.
Final decision
The final jury decision will be carried out at the ISZL conference. At this stage, finalists, i.e. one representative from each of the three competing teams will be invited to exhibit their project application and present a talk at the conference and award ceremony. The jury shall decide upon the winner according to the scores given in the second stage, in the exhibition and in the oral presentation given at the conference.
1. Exhibition
0 to 20 points
2. Oral presentation
0 to 20 points
Every presentation will be evaluated by three independent Jury members and result score will be average of these individual scores. These results will be added to score from second steps.
The final jury report will be produced and announced during the Award Ceremony on in May 2007, in Prague, Czech Republic; furthermore presented on the UNSDI and INSPIRE websites as well as in other media.
The Jury
The jury is composed in line with UNSDI and INSPIRE principles, thus constituted by personalities/institutions of recognised technical and scientific prestige bringing an area of expertise to the task as well as reflecting a balanced geographical representation.
The Jury committee is chaired
· Mr. Jelle U. Hielkema; United Nations-UNGIWG representative
The Members of the Jury are:
· Mr. Alessandro Annoni; European Commission Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, SDI Unit representative
· Prof. Milan Konecny; ICA President
· Dr. Karel Charvat; EFITA President
· Dr. Jiang Jie; Chair, ISPRS WG IV/1
· Dr. Gabor Remetey-Fülöpp; EUROGI WAG-IA and HUNAGI Representative
· Prof. Michael Gould; Chair, AGILE; representative of Academia and c@r project
· Dr. Chryssy Potsiou; Chair, FIG Commission 3 on Spatial Information Management
· Mr. Daniel Holweg; EUROGI and Humboldt project
· Prof. Mauro Salvemini; EUROGI and Humboldt project
· Dr. Jiri Hiess; CAGI President
· Prof. Harlan Onsrud; GSDI Representative

4. How to apply?
The principal objective of the application is to recognize and promote the best geo-information application. Therefore, it should be written in a way to enable the evaluation panel to judge all eligibility criteria as well as the quality presented with regards to all evaluation criteria. It should be structured according to the following:
The entry forms may be submitted:
(a) either on-line on the www.unsdi.cz website,
(b) or off-line, by downloading the entry form in “pdf” format from the website http://www.iszl.cz/index_en.php or www.unsdi.cz and sending it as an e-mail attachment to JB2007Prize@ccss.cz (with the following title: Application for JB@P 2007).

A) The entry form shall present objectives, preliminary results and practice on maximum of six pages, in English.
B) Entrants shall attach a maximum of 5 high-resolution (2048x1536 pixels) photos to the application, which are to be used in the promotional activities and official promotional material on the project.
C) The application can also submit a poster proving facts described in the entry form. Photo’s and posters can be sent either electronically together with the application to the above e-mail address or by regular mail to the following postal address:
Czech University of Agriculture in Prague
Information and Consultancy centre at FEM
Kamýcká 129
165 21 Praha 6 – Suchdol
(CUA rectorate groundfloor)
e-mail: kolkova@pef.czu.cz
Finalists are subject to producing further verification and more detailed information if requested by the jury. All materials submitted remain the property of the (ISZL/ISAF Conference). On the UNGIWG-UNSDI and INSPIRE websites the electronic entry forms will be available and stored in order to build an address database for the next award, and for the post-award promotional activities. Regarding the entries related with the awarded applications, the organizers reserve the right to use them and publish, either totally or in parts, at the conference and awards ceremony or in any other form of media. The name of the awarded application and author organizations, and reference to the JB@P will be cited in such cases.
Deadline for submissions: April 15th, 2007

A complete proposal consists of: [A.] Maximum six-page (A4) entry form, which is filled in electronically in the English language. [B.] Maximum five high-resolution (2048x1536 pixels) photos presenting the sustainable destination [C.] Printed Poster with digital copy for CD (recommended, finalist duly).

5. Conference and Award Ceremony
The overall framework of the Conference & Award are the UNSDI, INSPIRE and EFITA-EUROGI networking policy and activities, and possible next projects. The aim is to further facilitate capacity building by developing efficient and innovative tools and specific knowledge for sustainable development in relatively handicapped rural and suburban areas.
Conference: Information Systems for Agriculture and Forestry – ISZL/ISAF
The conference will address:
· scientific opportunities and directions in the European Union and world
· rural SDI
· implementation of i2010 initiative
· information and communication technologies for rural areas
· applications for agriculture and forestry
· eLearning for rural areas
· human aspect of information society development
· food safety and traceability
The venue will include a scientific and commercial exhibition, a poster exhibition presentation of best practice of the three nominees for the award, as well as relevant organisations and companies, who would like to showcase at the event. High profile speakers are invited from the European Commission, EFITA, EUROGI, United Nations, European Agencies and other organisations. It is estimated that the event will attract approximately 50 international delegates engaged in GI matters and usage at Global, European, national, regional and local levels. Winners and finalists will be actively promoted to relevant stakeholders and media.
The conference will be followed in the evening by a Gala Dinner where the first three winning projects will be presented. European Commission and European Institute, FAO, Czech National and regional Government and journalist VIP’s are invited to attend the Gala Dinner and Award Ceremony, and asked to give a short speech, present the winners and deliver the prize. The event will be staged in the Congress Centre at the Czech Agricultural University in Prague.
In the framework of the conference an exhibition will be presented in the foyer of congress hall for two days; thus allowing delegates to view the exhibition before and after the conference and gala dinner. The three nominees will be offered free exhibition space. The main requirement for all exhibitors is that they focus on best practice in effective GIS usage in rural areas. Additional marketing packages are available for delegates and organisations to be displayed. For more detailed information on the conference program, marketing packages, including prizes, and conference registration please contact the conference secretariat at this address:
Czech University of Agriculture in Prague
Information and Consultancy centre at FEM
Kamýcká 129
165 21 Praha 6 – Suchdol
(CUA rectorate groundfloor)
e-mail: kolkova@pef.czu.cz

Award Ceremony
The award scheme aims at raising the GIT credibility and broad usage of geo-information for sustainable development in e-excluded or handicapped rural areas both in the public perception and at national, regional and local government levels, and at demonstrating for the businesses and governments the benefits and advantages of SDI. The nominees will be guests of honour at the award ceremony; accommodation and meals for two delegates are provided and they are also invited to present their best practice examples at the conference.

6. Timetable
Publishing the Call for Entries
28/02/2007
Closing date for submission of applications
15/04/2007
Announcement of the pre-selection results
20/04/2007
Announcement of the Jury evaluation results
30/04/2007
Conference and Award Ceremony Announcement of the final jury decision
15/05/2007

To obtain further details on the competition, see www.unsdi.cz or contact the jb2007prize@ccss.cz .