DARMSTADT, GERMANY -- (Marketwire) -- 12/13/12 -- A new steel mill is not simply created in some open countrysite. The operators have clear requirements for their future site. The foundation soil must be suitable for the weight of the mill and have the desired size. An appropriate infrastructure is also needed. Due to the various and different planning bases in Europe, a transnational search for the right premises is complex.

Since April 2012 the researchers of Fraunhofer IGD are developing a solution to find the right site together with five partners within the scope of the European project plan4business. The Fraunhofer researchers are coordinating the work with University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Czech Republic HSRS, Help Service - Remote Sensing, s. r. o., Czech Republic ISOCARP, International Society of City and Regional Planners, the Netherlands GEOSYSTEMS Polska, Poland, and AVINET, Asplan Viak Internet as, Norway.

"It is the goal to create a platform offering regional planning records from all over Europe", explains Dr. Eva Klien, Fraunhofer IGD. "The information stored there should be comparable by a consolidated view of the planning data and thus greatly simplify the search for locations."

In their research, Klien and her employees are drawing on the experience from several EU projects on data harmonization. This is how they developed the software HALE within the scope of the European research project HUMBOLDT. This open-source solution allows for the harmonization of geodata from different sources, thus making them comparable. The exchange of geographical data required for the protection of the environment, disaster management or site identification is therefore possible across borders in Europe. "Supplementing regional and local planning data is only a logical step for us", says Klien.

The Fraunhofer researchers assume that planning authorities and companies, the real-estate as well as the tourism industry can achieve an added value from it. The EU project has a duration of two years and will end in march 2014. The budget is more than 2.5 million euros, the EU contribution is about 1.8 million euros. The rest will be contributed by the projects partners.

Further Information

www.plan4business.eu

www.dhpanel.eu/humboldt-framework/hale.html

Fraunhofer IGD, the world's leading research institution for applied Visual Computing, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Fraunhofer IGD is the world's leading institute for applied research in Visual Computing. Visual Computing is image- and model-based information technology. It includes computer graphics, computer vision, as well as virtual and augmented reality.

Fraunhofer IGD develops prototypes and complete solutions pursuant to customer-specific requirements. The researchers at Fraunhofer IGD use, record and process images and graphics for all conceivable computer-based applications.

The research and development projects of Fraunhofer IGD directly relate to current business issues. The application spectrum of the concepts, models and practical solutions is as diverse as it is specialized. It ranges from virtual product design via medical science, transportation all the way to multi-media learning and training.

Together with its partner universities, Fraunhofer IGD researches various key technologies and cooperates with companies in many different industry sectors. In addition to the head office in Darmstadt, Fraunhofer IGD has further sites in Rostock, Graz and Singapore. It has more than 200 (full-time equivalent) employees. The budget amounts over 16 million euros.

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