GIGAS Methodology for comparative analysis of information and data management systems

This document has been written on the basis of a methodology developed within the GIGAS Support Action financed by the European Commission in order to address the convergence of global initiatives like GEOSS and the European interoperability initiatives developed in the context of the GMES programme like HMA - Heterogeneous Missions Accessibility and the INSPIRE spatial data infrastructure legislation. The GEOSS, INSPIRE and GMES an Action in Support (GIGAS) promotes the coherent and interoperable development of the GMES, INSPIRE and GEOSS initiatives through their concerted adoption of standards, protocols, and open architectures. The methodology has been applied in the GIGAS project for a parallel analysis of GEOSS, INSPIRE, GMES, FP 6/7 projects and standardisation bodies, see [RD2] and [RD15].