OPEN DATA FROM EARTH OBSERVATION: FROM BIG DATA TO LINKED OPEN DATA, THROUGH INSPIRE

An efficient management of the increasing availability of Earth Observation and geographic data implies to respond to the paradigm of the 4V that usually applies to the problem of the Big Data: Volume - the sheer size of the "data at rest", Velocity - the speed of new data arriving, Variety -the different manifold, and Veracity - trustworthiness and issues of provenance. Big data need to be quickly processed and analysed in conjunction with other data sources in order to express their real value in the construction of new knowledge. These processes are hastened by the advent of an increasing machine-to-machine communication. The automation of the data analysis requires standardized and linked data so that machines, without human intervention, can process them. Standardization of geospatial data is mainly solved by the regulatory scenario dictated by the INSPIRE Directive1. The publication of spatial data as Linked Open Data may then leverage the reuse of common ontologies and vocabularies that allow the connection of geospatial data with other heterogeneous information. This way new scenarios and business opportunities may arise, as in the case of the real estate market mentioned in this article. This contribution aims to identify business opportunities, related to Linked Open Data and arising from the imminent availability of the Sentinel satellite data, with the European program Copernicus, for companies operating in the so-called downstream services of Earth observation.