Slide 1 Meeting GEO Architecture & Data Committee Seattle July 2006 Report from the Science & Technology Committee Gilles OLLIER European Commission Research Directorate-General Head of Sector Earth Observation

Slide 2 No implementing responsibility for the various tasks, but ensure and monitor, on behalf of GEO Plenary, the tasks assigned to it The S&T Committee will set priorities in order to identify those tasks which it sees as vital and to advise on how best to focus resources on these tasks, if necessary The Co-Chairs would not lead specific tasks Leads should insure that they interact with Leads of other relevant tasks, regardless of the Committee responsible (e.g. ADC Committee) Role of the S&T Committee

Slide 3 The Committee reviewed the 20 task sheets allocated to the S&TCom Agreed on the scope of the tasks and the deliverables, milestones etc. Agreed on the lead organizations with points of contact and the contributors Review of the S&T Committee tasks

Slide 4 The tasks were found to be of very different nature - some even not scientific, others very demanding. Tasks are also uneven in terms of organisation and progress Many tasks are well advanced and structured (AG, DI, WA, HE, CL, BI, WE) Some tasks are less advanced and less organised (EC) TASK EN-06-01, E-06-06, DA-06-03, (BI-06-04) Currently pending and deferred to 2007 unless new Leads come forward. Task content and implementation

Slide 5 The funding of activities was a general concern raised by many participants Leader of and participants to tasks are responsible for the provision of the resources needed (not always understood – expectation to get money from GEO) The idea is that GEOSS will have to promote funding according to its TYIP and using its political power The GEO secretariat has very limited funds to be assigned to the tasks ( priority areas for quick deliveries might get some seed funding from GEO). Funding aspects

Slide 6 archiving/access of/to results, data policy and harmonisation considered as a key issue necessitating proper liaison with ADC EXAMPLES: Biodiversity Task BI (Initiate the development of a strategic plan for capturing historical biodiversity data from natural history collections and the research community) Broadcast and dissemination of product and data: link to be established with GEONETCast and the ADC There will be an increasing need for discussion among Committees and the Executive Committee / GEO should put in place suitable mechanisms to enable such cross fertilization. Links with the ADC

Slide 7 S&TCom will not propose new tasks for the Work Plan Potential topics selected to be presented as showcases in front of the GEO plenary: carbon monitoring, disaster, water, land cover, health The Committee should address Science and Technology across all tasks in all Committees to develop the framework for a Science and Technology Committee Science Plan: need a mid-term to long-term perspective vision. Such a framework for a GEO science plan would take into account the state of the art, in order to avoid duplication of efforts and take advantage of all existing initiatives Future developments

Slide 8 CL-06-01: ECMWF/GEO Reanalysis Workshop held at ECMWF, Reading, UK on June 2006 DI-06-03: GEO SE Asia Geohazards Workshop - Kuala Lumpur 29th and 30th June HE-06-01: By ESSP - Beijing in Nov Global change and human health. BI-06-02: User and Provider workshop DIVERSITAS (October 2006) BI-06-03: Specimen and Observational Data Workshop, GBIF 4th University of Copenhagen (tentative October 2006) AG-06-03: Workshop GLOBCOVER October 2006 task coordination and high-resolution product specifications (host and venue: EEA) EC and BI-06-01: Ecosystem Classification Working Group 1st Meeting, Ascuncion, Paraguay, September 2006 EC-06-07: Workshop of the Chlorophyll Pilot Study Group (Antares). Plymouth Marine Laboratory (18-22 Sept) (POGO) GEO S&T events

Slide 9 23 June 2006: Update of the task sheet were sent to Secretariat 30June 2006: 2nd quarterly report July-September 2006: Committee review progress electronically 30 September 2006: 3rd quarterly report Science and Technology Committee 2nd meeting : 27 November 2006 in Geneva Co-chairs to report at GEO-III Plenary (28-29 November 2006) Science and Technology Committee 3rd meeting: early February 2007 Timescale

Slide 10 S&T Committee Co-Chairs: Thomas Rosswall – ICSU - Udo Gärtner - Deutscher Wetterdienst - Germany - Adi Paterson - Department of Science and Technology – South Africa - Alexia Massacand – GEO Secretariat – Douglas Muchoney - GEO Scretariat –