The INSPIRE 2014 Conference, to be held in Aalborg, Denmark, 16-20 June 2014 is only a month away.

The annual INSPIRE conferences relate to the "Infrastructure of Spatial Information in the European Community", INSPIRE directive 2007/2/EC, which entered into force on May 15th 2007. The INSPIRE Conference is a unique event that brings together users, technology developers, data providers and policy makers from across the European Union to discuss all things INSPIRE and more! Whether you are new to INSPIRE or an INSPIRE veteran the 5 days of conference has something to offer you.

This year's conference, "INSPIRE for Governance", hosts some 30 workshops, 5 plenary sessions and around 200 presentations in parallel sessions, a poster session and exhibition. The first 2 days are dedicated to host all the workshops at Aalborg University, on the 16th and 17th June. These are followed by 3 days of plenary sessions, parallel sessions, poster session and exhibition at the Aalborg Conference Centre, on the 18th - 20th June. The full programme is available on the INSPIRE 2014 Conference site.

INSPIRE is completing its formative period and, like children at school, has now to pass its mid-term exams. The Member States have provided their view on the implementation of the Directive (a public consultation was launched in 2013), together with an independent assessment of progress. These and other related evidence on the costs, benefits and impacts of INSPIRE are being consolidated in a mid-term evaluation report. The draft report will be presented and debated at the conference in the plenary session INSPIRE at a crossroads? on Thursday, providing an excellent opportunity for all the participants to help its finalisation before submission to the European Parliament and Council.

In light of the above, this is a conference you cannot miss!!!

Registration is still open and costs 200 € for the 5 days. We recommend that you register as soon as possible to avoid problems with your hotel booking.

We hope to see you in Aalborg.

The INSPIRE Team.