The IASON Permanent Networking Facility (IASON PNF) is a regional Earth observation (EO) directory, with tools for easy and user-friendly partner and expertise search. IASON PNF was built upon experiences of the B.GN PNF, which initially included data acquired during the identification of EO players and activities in the Balkan region in the frame of the FP7 project BalkanGEONet. The IASON PNF gathers similar type od data for Balkan, Mediterranean and Black Sea region collected through the activities of the IASON project, while it's interface (GUI) and OpenSearch capabilities - for connecting the PNF to various GEO brokers - have been created with the support of the FP7 project EOPower. It is open to all users and its database is extended through a continuous voluntary inputs by EO stakeholders.
The IASON PNF aims to strengthen the collaboration between data providers and users in the region. Expected EO players are:
- EO-data providers at all levels (national, county, city) such as state directorates/companies for management of natural resources (water, forests, oil, etc), institutions for public health, meteorological and hydrological services as well as other agencies responsible for environmental data management; research entities devoted to development of EO-data acquisition tools and their implementation; and
- EO-data users: ministries, governmental bodies at all levels, universities, institutes, R&D departments, companies that deal with spatial data. The role of this task is to identify relevant information about abovementioned stakeholders.
Each new input passes through a strict validation process, so database users can be sure that the provided information are accurate and reliable. Within PNF one can find numerous links to relevant web-sites, projects, etc.
PNF is based on the GEOSS data sharing principle which states that “all data, metadata and products for use in education and research will be encouraged to be made available free of charge or at no more than the cost of reproduction.” All users of PNF are encouraged to register their EO components in the GEOSS Components registry not limited to those resulting from work undertaken within the scope of BalkanGEONet, IASON and EOPower projects.
