INSTITUT NATIONAL DE L'INFORMATION GEOGRAPHIQUE ET FORESTIERE

Their core work

IGN is France's national institute for geographic and forestry information, responsible for producing and maintaining the country's reference geospatial data, maps, and forest inventories. They develop advanced cartographic methods, 3D mapping technologies, and Earth observation techniques that serve both public policy and scientific research. Their work spans from national forest monitoring systems feeding EU bioeconomy policy to fundamental research on how people interact with digital maps. They also contribute geospatial infrastructure and standards to European environmental monitoring and agricultural policy systems.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

IGN's early H2020 work (2015–2018) centered on environmental monitoring and policy support — harmonising forest inventories across Europe (DIABOLO), building climate services (ERA4CS), and citizen-driven land monitoring (LANDSENSE). From 2019 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward core cartographic science and geospatial data infrastructure: modernizing EU agricultural control systems (NIVA), advancing 3D geoinformatics (VOLTA), and securing a prestigious ERC grant for fundamental cartography research (LostInZoom). The trajectory shows a move from being a data contributor in environmental consortia toward asserting scientific leadership in their home discipline of cartographic and geospatial science.

IGN is doubling down on fundamental cartographic research and geospatial data standards, positioning itself as Europe's go-to partner for map science, spatial data interoperability, and Earth observation applications in policy.

How they like to work

IGN operates predominantly as a specialist partner (6 of 7 projects), contributing geospatial and cartographic expertise to larger consortia rather than leading them. Their single coordination — the ERC-funded LostInZoom — signals growing ambition to lead in their core domain. With 176 unique partners across 31 countries, they are a well-connected hub that works comfortably in diverse, large-scale European consortia rather than returning to the same small group of collaborators.

IGN has built an extensive European network of 176 unique consortium partners spanning 31 countries, reflecting their role as a national reference institution that collaborates broadly across environmental, agricultural, and geospatial research communities.

What sets them apart

IGN is not a university lab or a private company — it is France's national authority on geographic and forestry data, which gives it unique access to authoritative national datasets and mapping infrastructure that no other partner can bring to a consortium. Their combination of operational mapping mandate and active research in cartographic science (evidenced by the ERC grant) means they bridge the gap between production-grade geospatial systems and frontier research. For any project needing credible, large-scale geographic data or cartographic expertise backed by institutional permanence, IGN is a rare find.

Highlights from their portfolio

• LostInZoom
  IGN's only coordinated project and an ERC-funded grant (EUR 2M) — a strong signal of individual scientific excellence in cartographic research, focused on how users navigate multi-scale digital maps.
• NIVA
  Applied IGN's Earth observation and GIS capabilities directly to EU agricultural policy infrastructure (IACS modernization), demonstrating real-world policy impact with EUR 623K funding.
• DIABOLO
  Pan-European effort to harmonise national forest inventories, directly tied to IGN's national mandate and feeding into EU bioeconomy and forest policy decisions.