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.