SWITCH-ON

Sharing Water-related Information to Tackle Changes in the Hydrosphere - for Operational Needs.

The project SWITCH-ON addresses water concerns to thoroughly explore and exploit the significant and currently untapped potential of open data. Water information is highly sought after by many kinds of end-users, both within government and business as well as within civil society. Water touches virtually all societal and environmental domains and the knowledge domain is largely multidisciplinary. New water information and knowledge can thus lead to more efficient use of environmental services and better handling of environmental problems, including those induced by climate and environmental change. SWITCH-ON will show the benefits achieved through the whole process chain by re-purposing (re-using under different context) open data products into more dedicated and refined water products, which have high value and a broad impact on society.
The vision is to improve public services, and to foster business opportunities and growth, by establishing new forms of water research and facilitating the development of new products and services based on principles of sharing. The SWITCH-ON objectives are to use open data for implementing: 1) an innovative spatial information platform with open data tailored for direct water assessments, 2) an entirely new form of collaborative research for water-related sciences, 3) fourteen new operational products and services dedicated to appointed end-users, 4) new business and knowledge to inform individual and collective decisions in line with the Europe’s smart growth and environmental objectives. While focusing on water, the project is expected to inspire a much broader environmental and societal knowledge domain and many different end-users. The SWITCH-ON project will be one trigger in a contemporary global movement to better address environmental and societal challenges through openness and collaboration.

Coordinator
Sveriges Meteorologiska Och Hydrologiska Institut (Sweden)

Other participants
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM-UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Chimica, Ambientale e dei Materiali - DICAM
- Resp. Scientifico: Prof. Alberto Montanari
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (Italy)
Stichting Deltares (Netherlands)
Technische Universiteit Delft (Netherlands)
Linkopings Universitet (Sweden)
Technische Universitaet Wien (Austria)
Gecosistema Srl (Italy)
Emvis Symvouloi Michanikoi Anonymi Etaireia (Greece)
Dipl.-Ing. Guenter Humer Gmbh (Austria)
University Of Bristol (UK)
Cismet Gmbh (Germany)
Hkv Lijn In Water Bv (Netherlands)
Ecologic Institut Gemeinnuetzige Gmbh (Germany)
Jeremy Benn Associates Limited (UK)

Start date 01/11/2013
End date 31/10/2017
Duration 48 months
Project Reference 603587
Project cost 7.733.562,80 EURO
Project Funding 5.998.302 EURO
Area FP7- COOPERATION - ENVIRONMENT
Subprogramme Area ENV.2013.6.5-3: Exploiting the European Open Data Strategy to mobilize the use of environmental data and information
Contract type Collaborative project