Question (NPOC)

Can a non-governmental third party with data sets missing from or operating not properly in governmental infrastructure to be included into the spatial data infrastructure of a country.

Answer (EC Inspire Team)

The Directive addresses the Member States. As far as the coordination in the country is concerned INSPIRE Directive explicitly states in Article 18:

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Article 18
Member States shall ensure that appropriate structures and mechanisms are designated for coordinating, across the different levels of government, the contributions of all those with an interest in their infrastructures for spatial information.
These structures shall coordinate the contributions of, inter alia, users, producers, added-value service providers and coordinating bodies, concerning the identification of relevant data sets, user needs, the provision of information on existing practices and the provision of feedback on the implementation of this Directive.
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As becomes evident from the Reports from Member States 2010 (reference year 2009) (http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.cfm/pageid/182/list/indicators) several countries have detailed coordination structures that can also involve the private sector, GI associations and the educational sector. Non Governmental Organisations, when deemed appropriate by Member States, can indeed be taken into account with regard to the coordination and contributions mentioned at Article 18.