The Computree platform was initiated in the spring of 2010 as part of a collaboration between the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) department of the National Forestry Office (ONF) and the Ecole nationale supérieure des arts et métiers (ENSAM) of Cluny, within the ANR Emerge project. Between 2010 and 2016 the core of the platform was developed and maintained with mainly NFB funding, supplemented by contributions from the ANR Emerge and Foresee projects.
The developments themselves were carried out by the NFB (mainly processing algorithms), and by ENSAM as part of research contracts (mainly the core of the platform). Initially focused on the processing of terrestrial LIDAR data, the platform was opened to other data sources such as aerial LIDAR from 2014.
Since 2018, the governance and management of the platform has been managed by the ECOFOR Public Interest Group (GIP-ECOFOR) which has formed a Computree group. This group is composed of organizations or institutions allocating resources dedicated to the platform over time (staff time, material or logistical contributions, financial contribution).
This transfer of governance was motivated by the following objectives:
- Anchor Computree's collaborative philosophy in its mode of governance.
- Pool its financing, to facilitate and secure its evolution and maintenance.
- Support the Computree community through the gradual constitution of a multi-partner project team.
- Ensure a balance between scientific and operational objectives through the diversity and complementarity of the group's partners.
- Promote the international openness of the platform.
- The founding members of the Computree Group are:
- the ONF (National Forestry Office, France),
- GIP ECOFOR (ECOFOR Public Interest Group, France),
- IGN (National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information, France),
- INRAE (National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, France),
- University of Sherbrooke (Quebec, Canada).