1. Slide 1 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 CEOS-level conference Ivan Petiteville (ESA), CEOS CEO

2. Slide 2 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 History Difficulty to organize EOGEO raised as an issue at WGISS-22 ( Annapolis, Sep. 2006 ) To solve that issue, initial idea to expand it at whole CEOS presented at both CEOS SIT ( Sep. 2006 ) and CEOS Plenary ( Nov. 2007 ) 3 Working Groups tasked by CEOS to write a proposal for a “CEOS-level conference” Submission of proposal to CEOS on ( March 15, 2007 ). –Four CEOS reps provided some written feedback. More negative than positive comments

3. Slide 3 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 Summary of reactions from CEOS Very few comments received so far. CONS –Already too many conferences. Maybe in 1 or 2 years –Linked it to ISRSE (also proposed verbally by Norway) –Conference objectives all very good, but total sum is very wide-ranging. –Lot of work to prepare the agenda, organize speakers. Lack of the resources considering other CEOS efforts (WG activities, GCOS Implementation Plan, Constellations, GEO Plenary preparation, etc.). –Financing complicated, even with registration fees or sponsorship. PROS –Timely proposal –Forum for a wider dialogue among CEOS agencies, users, and related organizations –Useful venue for GEO, CEOS WG participants, and for the Constellations.

4. Slide 4 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 Revised Proposal Title: CEOS Conference on “Space for GEO” Annual international conference to address various issues related to space contribution to GEO, relevant to one (or more) selected CEOS Virtual Constellation –Conference prepared in cooperation with the GEO Secretariat, in the frame of a larger existing international conference / workshop e.g. ISRSE, IAF,.. –Duration: 2 to 3 days –Number of participants: 100 (TBC)

5. Slide 5 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 Objectives of Proposal (1/2) 1.Address the various aspects (technology, science, user needs, data policy) relevant to one or more CEOS Virtual Constellation(s) in the scope of GEO 2.Reinforce the role of CEOS as space coordinator for GEO 3.Promote CEOS and GEO to broader Earth science and applications community

6. Slide 6 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 Objectives of Proposal (2/2) 4.Forum to: –Increase awareness of CEOS and non-CEOS participants on all aspects related to the CEOS Virtual Constellations –Improve communication between various CEOS and non-CEOS actors on activities related to GEO tasks benefiting from the Constellations –Discover the CEOS contributions to GEO –Stimulate new contributions from CEOS to GEO

7. Slide 7 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 Participants Space agencies, governmental and inter- governmental and private stakeholders –value-added companies developing applications using space data; System integrators; commercial data distributors;.. End-users –decision makers, local authority, policy makers, public institutions, scientists …. Science community –scientists, academia, university professors and students… GEO actors

8. Slide 8 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 Number of Participants ?

9. Slide 9 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 Open Issues Objectives of conference ? Topics ? Main focus on Constellation ? Organisation of conference and funding … Number of participants ? Any suggestion ?

10. Slide 10 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 Detailed reactions from CEOS (1/2) ESA 1: […] We have conferences enough; what we need are some solid results in terms of the GEO Work Tasks. Perhaps in a year or two we will need to take stock, but at the moment it looks to me more like an alibi than a useful contribution. […] ESA 2: […] why don't you consider aligning this with the ISRSE meeting in Spring 2009 in N Italy probably? It would be a good chance to share resources, effort and customers. […] Not sure what the purpose of such a specific conference for "CEOS" is and […] not sure it would be blessed by Principals. Personally I would not favour it without some much better explanation than in the text. […]

11. Slide 11 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 Detailed reactions from CEOS (2/2) USGS: […] we believe the idea of a GEO-related CEOS-level conference is a good one, and very timely. It would provide a good opportunity for a wider dialogue among CEOS agencies, users, and related organizations -- an activity that would be truly beneficial to everyone. It would be a very useful venue for GEO, CEOS WG participants, and for the Constellations. However, despite the value of the idea, we do have two concerns: 1. the conference objectives are all very good, but the sum total is very wide-ranging. Any one or two of these would be sufficient for the entire conference. Other objectives could be addressed at future conferences. 2. this conference would involve a tremendous amount of work to prepare the agenda, organize speakers, and manage its conduct. Financing it would be complicated, even with registration fees or sponsorship. One discrete group or organization ultimately needs to be responsible for its end-to-end success. This is a very busy year for CEOS members, many of which may not have the resources to do this work alongside our other efforts (WG activities, GCOS Implementation Plan, Constellations, GEO Plenary preparation, etc.). Also, having this in the spring 2008 would be very problematic -- it is not very far into the future, especially for a major conference. Additionally, springtime is traditionally a very busy time for other conferences and events. […]

12. Slide 12 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 CEOS SEC 102 recommendation End of April 2007: It is felt that the objectives of this conference are still quite broad, while there are limited resources to organize such an event. There will be an offline discussion involving the CEOS Chair, and WG Chairs on this topic planned in the near future.

13. Slide 13 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 Way forward Some ideas collected at last WGEdu meeting (2 weeks ago at ESRIN/ESA, Frascati): –Lower the number topics being addressed –Focus the conference to a chosen constellation(s) Proposal will be updated again for next SIT meeting (19-20 June). Other updates might be needed between June and November 2007, in order to arrive at CEOS Plenary (Nov. 2007 ) with a proposal acceptable by CEOS Principals.

14. Slide 14 CEOS WGISS-WGCV, Sanya, China, Feb 2008 EOGEO WGISS participants at next EOGEO meeting (coupled with FOSS4G 2007) and potential topics ? Link EOGEO to IEEE-GEOSS workshops in 2008 ?