We are very proud to announce that VirtualGeo 3 has been selected to be the 3D browser of the next generation French GeoPortail, which will comply with the INSPIRE directive. This project will be carried out by a consortium of companies including Diginext and led by Atos Wordline with the ambition to release the new GeoPortail V3 mid-2012. Géoportail is the geographic portal of the French government whose aim is to publicise georeferenced data about the whole French territory. This service, developed by two public agencies (the IGN and the BRGM), was officially inaugurated on June 23, 2006. With millions of connections, this massively successful service originated for two main purposes:
- to comply with the INSPIRE (Infrastructure for spatial information in Europe) European directive and ADELE French program aiming at the development of on-line administrative information
- to provide a national alternative to other online projects such as Google Maps and Google Earth
About IGN
The Institut Géographique National is the French national provider of reference geographic information, heir to the French Armed Forces Geographic Department (Service Géographique des Armées – SGA) founded in 1887. Its role is to describe, from a geometric and physical perspective, the surface and land use of the national territory, to make all appropriate representations thereof and to distribute this information. Initially a map designer, today, IGN produces increasingly exhaustive digital databases, that can be used for many applications. It thereby contributes to development planning, sustainable development and environmental protection, national defence, civil security and risk prevention, as well as to the promotion and standardisation of national and international applications of geographic information.