GEO/EGIDA Splinter Meeting The Science & Technology Challenges for GEOSS Vienna, Austria, April 24, 2012; 8:30 - 12:00, Room SM2

SPM1.6

The Science & Technology challenges for GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems)

Conveners: H.-P. Plag, S. Nativi

Recently, GEO adopted the new 2012-2015 Work Plan (pdf), reflecting the conclusions of the GEO-VII Plenary, Beijing Declaration, and GEOSS Mid-Term Evaluation. It differs from the previous 2009-2011 Work Plan in four main ways: (i) it derives directly from the GEOSS Strategic Targets; (ii) it groups Tasks into three thematic parts (rather than two as before); (iii) it features a streamlined number of Tasks; and (iv) it proposes an improved Work Plan management structure.

The Work Plan has been organized into three major parts to match the key objectives outlined by the GEO-VII Plenary and to provide a clear overview of GEO activities. Part 1 on “Infrastructure” features the physical cross-cutting components of an operational and sustainable GEOSS, including interoperable observing, modelling and dissemination systems. Part 2 on “Institutions and Development” describes “GEO at work” and the community’s efforts to ensure that GEOSS is sustainable, relevant and widely used; it focuses on reinforcing data sharing, resource mobilization, capacity development, user engagement and science and technology integration. Part 3 on “Information for Societal Benefits” focuses on the information, tools and end-to-end systems that should be available through GEOSS to support decision-making across the nine Societal Benefit Areas. Each part is managed by an Implementation Board: Infrastructure Board, Institution and Development Board, and Societal Benefits Board, respectively.

Four Work Plan Tasks are defined for the “Institutions and Development” part: (1) “Data Sharing” (Task ID-01), (2) “Capacity Building” (Task ID-02), (3) Science and Technology (Task ID-03), and (4) User Engagement (Task ID-04). EGIDA, a project funded by the European Commission by the DG Research-Env, has a leading role in Europe in contributing to the relevant GEO Work Plan Tasks, in linking of national activities to GEOSS, and in bringing GEOSS to the scientific communities. It has been a major resource for the Science and Technology road map implementation (Task ID-03).

The Splinter meeting consisted of two parts with one giving a broader overview on the relevance of GEOSS for science and technology (and the EGIDA contribution to this), and a second one focusing in more detail on data quality, labeling, and citation - as interconnected topics. The presentations given are accessible throught the Program.

Participation

The meeting was open to all participants of the EGU assembly.