Towards a European Geothermal Information Platform, the EGIP pilot

Organising and sharing geothermal data was recognized by the Geothermal ERA-NET partner countries as playing an important role in facilitating geothermal energy development in Europe. In particular, one of the aims of the Geothermal ERANET project1 is dedicated to an assessment and feasibility study of the implementation of a European Geothermal Information Platform (EGIP). The envisaged EGIP is endowed with a web-portal access, by means of which European geothermal information can be accessed, retrieved and queried using modern ICT technologies, in particular collaborative e- Infrastructures. EGIP is a virtual platform, created through harmonized information, which goes beyond pure data sharing: it also involves the way and form how information and data are displayed, examined, and compared. A subset of the EGIP plan was implemented under the form of a pilot system (the EGIP pilot portal) and is the focus of this paper.