Nutzen von Galileo für den geoinformationsmarkt

The civil satellite positioning system GALILEO will be fully ready for use presumably in the year 2011. Already during the five years of development impulses by GALILEO for the European high tech industry are to be expected. The geo information industry also concerns itself intensively with the possible potential of GALILEO for GIS applications: Particularly mobile GIS could achieve anew quality due to improved signal availability and the coupling of GLONASS and GALILEO. The present engines of the geo information market are doubtless Earth Viewer such as Google Earth, Microsoft Virtual Earth etc. These serve the mass-market as pure information systems, but they will play an increasing role for GIS experts as well due to constant further developments and open interfaces. To what extent GALILEO will likewise be able to penetrate the complete hierarchy of GIS users from user only to developer, can not be guessed because of the time period until 2011, too long for reliable market analyses. Without doubt however, the crucial role for marketable GIS GALILEO applications will be played by interoperability, which is not to be realised without efficient interfaces. Over the next few years prototypical developments in the GALILEO test area GATE will show the potential and the feasibility of applications and scenarios of GALILEO in connection with GIS.