The INSPIRE Regulations 2009

Network services

7.—(1) A public authority or a third party must establish and operate the services(1) described in paragraph (2) in relation to any spatial data set or spatial data service—

(a)for which that authority or third party is responsible; and

(b)in relation to which metadata have been created in accordance with regulation 6 and the Metadata Regulation.

(2) The services are—

(a)discovery services—

(i)making it possible to search for spatial data sets and spatial data services on the basis of the content of the corresponding metadata and to display the content of the metadata, and

(ii)making it possible to search according to, as a minimum, the search criteria specified in paragraph (3) (used alone or in combination);

(b)view services making it possible, as a minimum, to display, navigate, zoom in and out, pan, or overlay viewable spatial data sets and to display legend information and any relevant content of metadata;

(c)download services, enabling copies of spatial data sets, or parts of such sets, to be downloaded and, where practicable, accessed directly;

(d)transformation services, enabling spatial data sets to be transformed with a view to achieving interoperability; and

(e)services allowing spatial data services to be invoked.

(3) The search criteria referred to in paragraph (2)(a)(ii) are—

(a)keywords;

(b)classification of spatial data and spatial data services;

(c)the quality and validity of spatial data sets;

(d)geographical location;

(e)conditions applying to the access to and use of spatial data sets and spatial data services; and

(f)the person responsible for the establishment, management, maintenance and distribution of spatial data sets and spatial data services.

(4) The services specified in paragraph (2) must—

(a)take into account relevant user requirements;

(b)be easy to use; and

(c)subject to regulation 9, be available to the public and accessible via the internet or any other appropriate means of telecommunication.

(5) In paragraph (2) “interoperability” means the possibility for spatial data sets to be combined, and for services to interact, without repetitive manual intervention, in such a way that the result is coherent and the added value of the data sets and services is enhanced.