Index Copernicus was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund under the name: "Electronic Publishing House of Scientific Journals system of Index Copernicus Ltd." IC's journal ranking system was criticized in 2013 by Jeffrey Beall because of the high proportion of predatory journals included in it and its suspect evaluation methodology; he characterized the resulting "IC Value" as "a pretty worthless measure". Index Copernicus Index Copernicus (IC) is an online database of user-contributed information, including scientist profiles, as well as of scientific institutions, publications and projects established in 1999 in Poland, and operated by Index Copernicus International. The database, named after Nicolaus
Copernicus Programme a wide range of applications in a variety of areas. These include urban area management, sustainable development and nature protection, regional and local planning, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, health, civil protection, infrastructure, transport and mobility, as well as tourism." Copernicus is the European Union's contribution to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) thus delivering geospatial information globally. Some Copernicus services make use of OpenStreetMap data in their maps production. Other initiatives will also facilitate the development and functioning of Copernicus services: Copernicus is one of three related initiatives that are the subject of the GIGAS ("GEOSS, INSPIRE and