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Back to GEO News issue #3

Committees update

The 9th meeting of the Capacity Building Committee (CBC) was hosted by the Greek GEO Office in Athens in April. The meeting focused on how to enhance GEO’s role in capacity-building. A key priority is assisting users in all of the GEO Societal Benefit Areas to gain access to capacity-building programs.

The meeting participants also assessed the implementation of the five overarching Tasks on capacity building contained in the 2009-2011 GEO Work Plan. Each of the five teams is led by a CBC co-chair. They all held teleconference and e-mail discussions before CBC-9 to develop the overarching Task sheets, which describe Task goals, targets and activities. Then, in Athens, the teams presented their initial overarching Task implementation plans. The meeting identified the need for a road map to establish how the overarching Tasks and sub-tasks will meet their targets.

In addition, the meeting agreed to expand the scope of GEO’s “resource mobilization” activities to encompass “resource mobilization and utilisation” activities. This change was based on the need to more effectively reach out to decision makers on the issue of capacity building, a gap that was identified in the GEO Work Plan. To this end, an outreach plan and a new outreach sub-task will be developed during the course of 2009 for inclusion in the Work Plan when it is next updated. Another intended outcome will be the compilation by March 2010 of a comprehensive inventory of national and international resource-providing agencies and applicable training schemes.

The session for presentations on capacity building in the regions served as a forum where participants could present their activities and proposals for meeting the associated needs and filling the gaps. For example, the presentation by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) on promoting the use of Earth observation for sustainable mountain development in the Himalayan Region set out a number of possible GEO projects, such as SERVIR Himalaya, GEONETCast Himalaya, a resource and training center for GEOSS, a regional symposium on Earth observation benefits for mountain societies, and proposals for the joint CBC/UIC Call for Proposals on snow and ice mapping and on monitoring the impact of aerosol on human health and agriculture.

The 10th meeting of the Science and Technology Committee (STC) was held in May against the backdrop of the International Symposium for Remote Sensing of the Environment (ISRSE) in Stresa, Italy. A new feature of the meeting was a joint session with the User Interface Committee (UIC) aimed at promoting better inter-Committee coordination. Major outcomes of the STC meeting included:

  • The STC Roadmap was completed and will be presented to the GEO-VI Plenary meeting for information.
  • Task sheets for Task ST-09-01 on Catalyzing Research and Development Funding for GEOSS and Task ST-09-02 on Promoting Awareness and Benefits of GEO in the Science and Technology Community have been finalized. Information on the Points of Contact and leads was consolidated, and kick-off meetings for both Tasks will be organized during mid-2009.
  • In anticipation of the 2010 Ministerial Summit, several short presentations were delivered outlining scientific projects for which the added value of GEOSS has already been demonstrated within the research community.
  • The first day ended with a keynote address by Nicola Pirrone, Director of the Italian National Research Council’s (CNR) Institute for Atmospheric Pollution, on the importance of a “Global Observation System for Mercury.” Sub-Task HE-09-02d for a Global Monitoring Plan for Atmospheric Mercury has been introduced into the GEO 2009-2011 Work Plan.
  • The joint session with the UIC concluded with commitments from STC members to serve on the project review panel for the CBC-UIC Call for Proposals. Meanwhile, UIC members pledged to consider ways in which they can contribute to both STC Tasks.

The 11th meeting of the User Interface Committee (UIC) was also held during ISRSE-33. One of the major items discussed was the adoption of the UIC 2009-2010 Activity Plan. This internal UIC document sets out the plan prioritizing UIC-led GEO activities during the next two years.

The Committee also discussed its support to GEOSS Work Plan implementation. It will focus on analyzing types of users and identifying possible areas with significant user interest where the UIC can be helpful.

Still another major topic was the development of the Communities of Practice. The UIC, in cooperation with the STC and other Committees, will take further concrete steps to foster the integration of the former IGOS Themes into the GEO process. It will work to strengthen existing Communities of Practice and to develop new ones.

The recent Call for Proposals, which is a joint effort with the CBC, is attracting a great deal of interest worldwide. Three proposals have already been received ahead of the 4 June deadline for concept proposals. The two events held on the Call for Proposals during the ISRSE conference provided an opportunity for interested parties to interact with the organizers and have their specific questions answered.

The UIC also took the initiative of conducting 'GEO Portal Usability Testing' at the Stresa conference. Booths with work stations were set up and conference attendees were asked to test the GEO Portals and fill in a questionnaire. More than 120 users participated in this testing. The results have been reported to the ADC and will form a valuable contribution to improving the value of the GEOSS Common Infrastructure for users.

Finally, the UIC hosted a 'User Engagement Reception'. As a result of this event, as well as the UIC booth in the ISRSE exhibition, a number of new users signed up as interested members of the UIC. The UIC will continue its efforts to engage users and to promote the development of GEOSS.

Also in Stresa, the 10th meeting of the Architecture and Data Committee (ADC) held extensive discussions on the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI). The one-year Initial Operating Capability (IOC) demonstration of the GCI will shortly be completed. During the IOC, the contributors of the GEO web portals, registries and clearinghouse have sought to provide the core capabilities that enable decision makers and other users to discover, understand and access the systems, data, services and products that constitute GEOSS. At the same time, the GEO community has explored the GEOSS Common Infrastructure and delivered useful feedback.

The ADC meeting also discussed the management of overarching Tasks and agreed on the need to avoid adding another layer of management. The importance of encouraging the organic development and coordination of these Tasks was emphasized.

Presentations were made on the ICSU World Data System, the progress being made by various architecture- and data-related Tasks, and the progress of the Architecture Implementation Pilot (AIP) Phase 2.

The upcoming ADC meeting schedule was planned: the next meeting will take place 14-18 September 2009 in Melbourne, followed by 23-26 February 2010 in Buenos Aires, May 2010 in Istanbul, September 2010 in South Africa and November 2010 in China or Korea.

Back to GEO News issue #3

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