EuroSDR

Established as OEEPE in 1953, in accordance with a recommendation passed by the Council of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation, EuroSDR draws its membership, which now includes eighteen countries, from the member states of the Council of Europe. EuroSDR is a research platform for national mapping agencies, academic institutes, the private sector, industry and other groups concerned with European spatial data infrastructures vital to sustainable spatial planning and development. It is governed by a steering committee, which consists of two delegates from each member state - one from the national mapping agency and one from an educational/research institute - together with representatives from the private sector and Geographical Information user groups.

International Hydrographic Organization

The International Hydrographic Organization is an intergovernmental consultative and technical organization that was established in 1921 to support the safety in navigation and the protection of the marine environment.

The object of the Organization is to bring about:

• The coordination of the activities of national hydrographic offices;
• The greatest possible uniformity in nautical charts and documents;
• The adoption of reliable and efficient methods of carrying out and exploiting hydrographic surveys;
• The development of the sciences in the field of hydrography and the techniques employed in descriptive oceanography.

The official representative of each Member Government within the IHO is normally the national Hydrographer, or Director of Hydrography, and these persons, together with their technical staff, meet at 5-yearly intervals in Monaco for an International Hydrographic Conference. The Conference reviews the progress achieved by the Organization and adopts the programmes to be pursued during the ensuing 5-year period. A Directing Committee of three senior hydrographers is elected to administer the work of the Bureau during that time.

This Directing Committee, together with a small international staff of technical experts in hydrography and nautical cartography, coordinates the technical programmes and provides advice and assistance to Member States. All Member States have an equal voice in arriving at agreed solutions to problems of standardization and in programming the work of the Bureau, whilst any Member may initiate new proposals for IHO consideration and adoption. Between Conferences such matters are normally accomplished by correspondence.