In December 2006, Directorate General / Research & Technological Development launched the 7th European Union RTD Framework Programme and its first call for proposals. It included calls for a number of actions in support of Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) among which a Support Action concerning “Georesource information system for Africa ”.

Georesources are an important factor for the sustainable development of Africa and an issue for the EU-Africa partnership. The proposed consortium is founded on African and European research institutes and organisations involved in Solid Earth data collection, conservation, processing and dissemination that jointly hold a unique archive of Africa-related geological and georesources observation data and knowledge.

The Cotonou Partnership Agreement (2000-2020) between 79 ACP States and the European Union states that the ACP-EU co-operation shall “provide technical and financial assistance for the acquisition, conservation, processing and dissemination of geoscientific data”.

In the Maputo declaration (July, 2007), the community of African Earth Sciences declared itself to be “convinced that geoscience's knowledge can help Africa learning from past mistakes in the environmental management of our Earth system in order to improve the quality of life of their populations”.

In the Addis Ababa declaration (October, 2008), the First African Union Conference of Ministers responsible for Mineral Resources Development endorsed the AEGOS Project initiative, declaring that "[they] welcome the various geomineral information system initiatives in Africa, including the African European Georesources Observation System (AEGOS)".

New challenges:

• Move from paper to digital georeferenced interoperable data.
• Overcome the current dissemination of data sets in making them accessible through Internet in secured environment.
• Develop a shared/distributed/interdisciplinary spatial data infrastructure.
• Entail access to geology related data layers for cross-thematic processing.
• Strengthen human and technical capacities necessary to turn data into information and expertise required by a wide range of end-users.
• Promote the re-use of public data through combinations and modelling in environmental, social and economic contexts in support to sustainable development policies.

Addressing these issues is of importance to the geological community and for its visibility in international undertakings. AEGOS is a contribution of African and European geosciences' community to international key initiatives: