Two days late but here are my week notes for the past week.

This week I

• Was in Malta from Sunday until Wednesday, to attend the EuroGeographics 2023 General Assembly. There I contributed my perspectives on the European data strategy and what that may mean for the 40 or so heads of European national mapping, cadastral and land registry authorities.
• Spent a day at the European Data Space Symposium in The Hague. It was the final day of a three day event, and a broad audience was present. Good conversations, and interesting to see how very different domains are approaching this subject. A lot of technology focus, not much talk about governance and agreement systems it seems, and a lack of tangible examples in a sea of abstraction. In short, we don’t know yet really what this will turn out to be.
• Had a nice conversation with the people behind SPOON, a new small NGO looking at how the new Dutch access to information legislation (WOO) that replaces the 1980s previous law (WOB) is (not) being implemented by local and regional government entities.
• Took Y to her swimming lesson.
• Tried to do nothing much during the weekend, except for processing and geotagging my photos from the Malta trip.
• On Sunday with E and Y met up with a large group of old university friends and their families for the yearly ‘winter walk’, which usually takes places towards spring. Good to see many people again and catch up. This time we visited a small old city, where one of my friends became the mayor a little over two years ago during the pandemic lockdowns.

Maltese is a wonderful mix of Italian and Arabic and other influences.