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EARSC EO product award for 2019 will recognise a product which will support overall sustainable development projects or the implementation of the SDGs at national, regional and/or local levels, and the monitoring and reporting against the global indicator framework.

In 2015, countries adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These include a broad range of sustainable development issues; ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests.

The SDGs are being launched with an emphasis on collecting data that will be extensive and specific enough to serve these needs. They are designed to balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental. European EO industry can help achieve the SDGs by providing critical information on natural resources, government operations, public services, and population demographics.

EARSC EO product award will recognise a product which will support overall sustainable development projects or the implementation of the SDGs at national, regional and/or local levels, and the monitoring and reporting against the global indicator framework.

The competition will run until April 2019 during which time candidate companies may adapt an existing product, develop a new product or simply promote one they have already in their catalogue. Companies will be asked to provide a short summary of the results (report should not exceed 2 pages) which will be used as statement for the jury.

This year’s award will be announced during the EARSC annual cocktail where the winner of the EARSC “European Earth Observation company of the year” is also revealed.

This is your opportunity to follow in the steps of previous award winners and benefit from the prestige of winning an EARSC award!

Criteria: eligibility requirements & metrics

o Any commercial product which will support the monitoring and reporting against SDGs
o Report on the findings (recommendation 2 pages):
-Explain what type of product the company offers
-Describe the challenge: What problem this product will solve/what solution will this provide? How will this product contribute to the monitoring of a particular SDG?
-Explanation of the circumstances surrounding the development of this product and the identification of the SDG which will support or the monitoring and reporting against the global indicator framework.
-Expected impact to address

Timing
Expression of Interest: by 15th March 2019
Dead-line entries & guidance: April 30th 2019
Selection: the files will be judged by the jury to select the overall product winner (May 2019)
Announcement: EARSC cocktail & AGM 2019 in Brussels

Download Template form European Product Award 2019

More info at info_at_earsc.org

Please find Elżbieta Bieńkowska opening speech at 11th EU⁩ Annual Space Policy Conference

Introduction
Honorable Members of the European Parliament
Dear Ministers and representative of Member States
Dear Didier Reynders,
Dear friends from the space sector,
Ladies and gentlemen,

This 11th Annual Space Conference is now my fifth since I took office.

I always valued this event. It allows us to take a step back, take a snapshot of where we are, what has been achieved, and discuss where we want to be.

This year is special.

Special first because we are not talking anymore about “plans”, “strategies” for the future. We have now a concrete proposal from the Commission: a €16bn EU space programme. I personally pushed it. It is now under negotiations. When I think of our last year discussions, especially on the budget, this is a remarkable achievement.

Special for me then, because it is the last one under this mandate, and when I look back at what we have done since the first space conference I participated in – in 2015 – I am impressed by the work done and genuinely proud of our collective efforts.

Special finally for all of us, because 2019 will be a highly political year, in several of our Member States but also at European level with the European elections of May. The results of these elections will be crucial for Europe as a common project. The current geopolitical realities help us to remember that we should never take for granted the collective achievements. We should continuously fight for them.

Before looking ahead, I would like to say a few words on our programmes Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus. They are now operational and world class references.

We should not be afraid to say it: We have the best Earth observation system in the world and the best satellite positioning system in the world. We should be proud of that.

Not a single EU Member State could have done it alone. This is the result of our European cooperation and these are clear European successes.

Copernicus is today delivering data and services of unprecedented quality. It sets global standards by offering the most accurate climate and environmental data, 24/7.

Our objective is to maintain the EU’s autonomous capacity to observe Earth and to position Copernicus in support of Europe’s security and Europe’s leadership to fight climate change.

Galileo is today delivering beyond expectation.

The accuracy of Galileo is far better than expected.

It is used by more than 500 million users worldwide and this number is growing every day.

Since November, Galileo is the first and only non-US satellite navigation system authorised for use in the US.

And we will continue its development towards FOC service in 2020.

What we proposed

So looking at where we are: Europe is a true space power. The second in the world. The European space industry is a world class one.

That being said, this should not be an excuse for complacency and being immobile. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels and passed achievements.

The world is changing in front of us. The Space sector is undergoing massive changes worldwide. A new reality emerges and the European Space sector and policies must adapt and react to it.

Failing to understand that we are not anymore in a “Business as usual” environment, this is the position of Europe on space that is at stake.

This was the sense of the Space Strategy we adopted in October 2016.

This is the sense of the new €16bn EU Space Programme I presented in June last year.

This is the sense of the increased budget, despite the difficult context.

I personally fought hard for this amount. It shows the commitment of the Commission in putting space as a top priority.

With this new programme, I have four objectives:

The first objective is to ensure continuity in the investment towards Galileo, EGNOS & Copernicus. As any infrastructure, they need to be maintained and upgraded. We need to prepare already now for the next generation of Galileo and Copernicus.

The second objective is to ensure the evolution of these programmes towards new needs such as climate change, security or internet of things. I am clear:

- I want Copernicus to ensure Europe’s political leadership in fighting climate change
- I want Galileo to become the enabler of internet of things, connected cars and app economy
- I want both to participate to Europe’s security even more

The third objective is to promote the adaptation of the EU space sector to the new realities: Security, strategic and economic.

On Security: Space is and should be promoted as an enabler of security. We will progressively launch two new initiatives:

A Space Situational Awareness (SSA) system to avoid collision and debris on key satellites
A Governmental Satellite Communication (GovSatCom) initiative to provide Member States with reliable and secure satellite communication.
Additionally, together with Mariya Gabriel, we are working on a joint initiative on Quantum secured communication using both terrestrial and space capacities. Mariya will tell you more.

On the strategic dimension: there is no Space policy for Europe without autonomous access to space.

This is why it is the first time that we include a legal provision in an EU text to support a European access to space. We are ready to aggregate our institutional demand, to support ground infrastructures and the deployment of new technologies. This is a far-reaching provision which is the answer of the Commission on the call to support European launchers.

Third, on the economic dimension: Europe needs to launch a true European approach to new space – but I will come back to this.

Finally the last objective of the programme is to make our way of working more efficient: we proposed a slight adjustment in the governance – not a revolution – to take account of Brexit, the transition towards an exploitation phase of the programmes, and the rise of security concerns.

Beyond the EU Space Programme, other MFF proposals will support space.

Horizon Europe will support Space research through the launch a space partnership focused on large-scale space systems to boost innovation capacity and competitiveness in the global context.

InvestEU is now also referencing space and will stimulate investment in the space sector.

All these elements are now under negotiations and we have ambitions, I think achievable ambitions, to reach the agreement and the conclusion in the trilogue by the end of February. Of course with the help of our friends from the Parliament, who are here with us.

Towards a European New Space approach

I would like to say now a few words on the changing European space eco-system.

The space sector is going through a fast and profound industrialisation process. I think of the same magnitude as the one the automotive industry went through.

To face these challenges, I am convinced that we need to promote a European approach to “New Space”.

This is not about copy-pasting what is happening elsewhere in the world.

It is about looking critically at our system of support for space innovation.

This is not about opposing large companies with start-ups or traditional space companies with newcomers. Because we need them all here in Europe. We need you all. Both big and small. Traditional space companies and others.

We also need to change the mindset of the Space sector in Europe, but also of the rest of the economy towards the space sector.

It is not by chance that in the US, the private sector driving the deep change in space technologies and businesses are not necessarily coming from the space sector itself.

We are not seeing this yet or not seeing it enough in Europe. So we need different industrial sectors to mobilise efforts, R&D and financing into innovative space solutions.

But we also need a change of mindset of the public authorities.

- We need to make our own public procurement more open and ready to take higher risks.
- We need to develop a first contract approach for our space start-ups. Extremely important.
- We need also to learn in Europe to do things much faster and at much lower cost, more efficiently.
- On the specific point of access to finance: Today we will present a study that we launched together with EIB to assess the conditions of access to finance of European space companies.

The conclusions are very clear: the space sector is still perceived by investors as too risky.

Based on this study, I am calling for the design of a smart financing approach.

The work has already started:

Firstly, in the upcoming months I will launch a Space Fund, as a pilot initiative with the European Investment Fund.

It will mobilise up to € 300 million of public and private investment dedicated to space start-ups and SMEs in Europe.

The Commission’s InvestEU proposal will create a solid base to continue then.

I believe, that in the medium term, Europe will need a large European Space Equity Fund.

Secondly, we launched a new “partnership” with ESA to join forces for supporting orbit validation and demonstration (IOD/IOV) of research experiments from technologies to missions. Some €100 million will be allocated. I think it will be potentially a game changer in the market segment of rideshare services;

Thirdly, as announced last year, in 2021 we will award €10 million to the most commercially viable solution offering low-cost launch services for light satellites.

So we already put things in motion towards a European approach to New Space.

A more personal reflexion – going beyond

This being said, allow me to share with you a more personal reflection.

I am not only speaking now as Commissioner in charge of delivering different European space programmes, but as a person who is a decision maker, and who observed what we do in space at European level and who actively participated in this political push.

At the beginning, 4,5 years ago I understood very fast the importance and the potential of the space sector for Europe. You are all here in this room active in space. You are all in a sense ‘space specialists’. But the potential of space for our economy, for our future is largely unknown in Europe outside of this room, by our citizens, even by our leaders, by our politicians at national level.

Debating space is limited to specialists.

I believe that this is due to one element: in Europe, we do not have a clear collective sense of where we are going together on space matters.

We need to look at the reality straight:
- China goes to the Moon
- The US are going to Mars.

These are objectives, they are broad objectives which are brought by people’s emotions. They were designed to reach the goal.

Even if they fail on the short term, just setting the goal is helpful to mobilise public, private, finance, technology, entrepreneurs, ideas to develop new services, new technologies with concrete applications.

Over the last 10 years, the cost to access and use space has been dramatically cut – some say by 80%. The questions are not whether but rather when something will happen. Are we in this race as Europe?

Have we measured in Europe the impact of these trends on the business and our position on the global stage? Have we fully really realised the disruptive wave which is there?

This is not about economics; this is a deep strategic question for Europe, a question of strategic autonomy and technological dependence.

This is in fact a question of vision and political leadership.

So I am asking one question to all of us: where are we going? What is our shared and collective objective and vision in space? What makes us different?

I hear some spoke about an orbital society: why not?
I hear others targeting the Moon and the moon village: why not?
I hear also that Europe should have the capacity to have human space flights and not depend on others: certainly yes!

All this is going well beyond my mandate as a Commissioner and even the competence of the EU itself in space.

I do not wish my words to be interpreted like saying that the EU should do it.

But I think somebody needs and dares to say it out load.

We need to set in motion a process to define Europe’s vision for Space.

In the US they have a National Space Council attached directly to the President. Why couldn’t we have a “European Space Council” attached directly to the European Council or its President? It would gather all the space decision makers and actors, and advise directly our heads of states and government.

Second, we know that space is to become THE infrastructure for telecommunication, data, the Internet of Things, broadband. And this will likely be run mostly by the private sector. Can we afford in Europe to take the risk that soon, key infrastructures for IoT connection or operating system of connected cars will be non-European? We need what we call internally a European ‘Space Google’!

Third, the link between defence and space will increase. The US has recently created a Space Force. Some of our Member States are considering similar arrangement. We should reflect on the possibility to have a European Space force.

From an industrial perspective, the military will soon run the disruption of technologies. For instance on earth point-to-point space flights. Such a prospect can be very disruptive on the medium term for instance to the aviation sector.

Another dimension is the strategic and technological autonomy of Europe. We need to reduce our technological dependence from third countries.

Concretely we should collectively set up a periodic screening of critical components and for the most strategic segments apply, through our procurement rules, a clear European preference approach..

Finally, we need Europe to become an attractive hub for space innovation. We should be able in Europe to accelerate the emergence of innovative European solutions by offering demonstration/feasibility contracts. A pipeline of projects could be created and supported by the most appropriate means (grants, procurement and equity).

Additionally, a serious bottleneck in space innovation is to be able to go to space and test in orbit the solutions. We could therefore explore the feasibility of an in orbit demonstration programme based on the pilot partnership with ESA: every year Europe could buy a launcher and award its capacity to highly innovative projects. This would accelerate a lot innovation in Europe.

At the same time, we need to develop a true Single Market for Space in Europe, where geo-graphical restrictions in space procurements would only be acceptable in the early R&D phase and for security sensitive activities. In clear, all procurements of operational and civil capacity should be open to all European companies. This is what the single market is about.

I am sure that this kind of reflection is something what we need now in Europe.

Conclusion

Ladies and gentlemen,

In conclusion of this already long speech, I would like to just to say few words.

These past five years have been very intense.

I am particularly grateful to have met all of you, to have been able to know most of you in the different space related events.

Space is really a community or sometimes as it is called a family. Policy-makers may change but the European space community remains and it will be on all of us gathered here today to transform our aims and visions into successes!

Space is one of those topics where the European added value is clear. And we should be able to present it to the society.

Thank you.

Source

January 2019 – What is a coverage, after all? This fundamental spatio-temporal data structure, encompassing (among others) datacubes, is widely used, based on adopted and implemented OGC and ISO standards like WCS. However, the conceptual foundations are outdated. This is being changed now.

On a high level it is clear: ISO 19123, which is identical to OGC Abstract Topic 6, describes the foundations of coverages. Accordingly, coverages encompass regular and irregular spatio-temporal grids, point clouds, and general meshes. However, this standard – crafted around the year 2000 – is not up-to date and needs urgent revision according to ISO and other experts. Definitions like “a raster is like a grid of pixels on a cathode ray tube” are not exactly representing modern understanding.

Therefore, ISO since several years has set up a New Work Item Proposal (NWIP) based on which project leader Prof. Liping Di at the US George Mason University in the US is looking for a writer of the specification. Peter Baumann, rasdaman CEO, was approached, but could not do it earlier due to urgent work on other standards. In 2018, an agreement was finally reached with DIN, the German standardization body, to establish a national project led by Peter Baumann to establish a new abstract coverage specification.

ISO has decided to split the coverage standard into a pair of companion standards, 19123-1 (abstract foundations of coverages) and 19123-2 (concrete, interoperable coverage definition which allows mapping to a variety of data format encodings). The latter, 19123-2, has been adopted by ISO in 2018 from the corresponding OGC Coverage Implementation Schema (CIS) in an ISO project led by Peter Baumann. For the former, 19123-1, the so-called DIN-CONNECT project has submitted a complete specification by the end of the year, fully according to plan. This coverage specification will now become German national standard and simultaneously will be submitted to ISO TC211 as German input to the project.

“It is extremely important to have a coherent set of standards”, says Peter Baumann. “We have put utmost emphasis on establishing a specification that is state of the art, open for the future, and yet compatible with the existing coverage standards ecosystem”.

EARSC, is conducting its industry survey to map the state and health of the companies providing EO services in Europe for the fourth time. Make your voice heard, answer the survey now!

Answer the survey

Previous reports can be found at the following link. Now in 2018/2019 we shall update the survey with the following objectives:
- Characterise the business of the EO services industries in Europe
- Understand the way in which the industry sector is evolving
- Identify the key issues that the industry is facing today and over the next few years
- Assess the impact of Copernicus on the sector.

The series of reports are very strongly appreciated by European stakeholders (European Commission, European Parliament, ESA) as well as national representatives and they represent an extremely important tool for projecting the sector and to influence policy decisions (for example concerning the next phase of Copernicus). Please take the time to complete this core survey and if possible to talk with us afterwards to complete the full survey which has more subjective questions. The opinions and trends collected are widely used and the more companies which respond the more solid are the results.

GUIDELINES

Once past the first page you can go right through the survey and/or you can return to complete the survey on several visits. If you wish to get an overview of the entire survey you can download it in pdf.

Use of the data: The data you provide using this survey will strictly be seen only by the project team. The data you provide here will NOT be presented to other parties or made public – only cumulative or statistical formats (totals, averages, variances, etc) of the data provided by all of the respondents will be provided, to ensure that no confidential data is revealed.

All data collected will be held under password protected and secured control and every effort will be taken to ensure that it is secure.

Scope of the survey: we are seeking inputs from companies for whom satellite­-derived EO data is part of their business. These may be satellite operators, EO service providers, Geospatial information providers or internal service departments inside companies engaged in an entirely different business e.g. oil&gas, insurance, construction etc.

Data should be for the last full financial year ie 2018 whenever it is possible. If this means completing the survey early in 2019, then we would prefer to wait and have accurate data. However, if the end of the financial year is different ie 30th June 2018 then fill in this data as for 2018. If precise data for 2018 will not be available before end of March 2019 (when we close the survey), we would prefer to have a reasonable approximation than nothing. We open the survey now to provide you with enough time to give us accurate information. We will leave it open until March, but we would appreciate your response as early as possible, consistent with the availability of good data.

POINTS OF CONTACT

Please feel free to contact EARSC at any time if you have any questions; Irene Doda EARSC Junior Policy Officer (irene.doda@earsc.org) or Mónica Miguel­ Lago, EARSC Executive Secretary (secretariat@earsc.org)

Thank you for completing this EARSC industry survey!

Answer the survey

the GEO-CRADLE project officially closed in November 2018, but the GEO-CRADLE network, which was established in the region of NAMEBA during the lifetime of the project, will not be closed. Our team, including myself and my colleagues, with the support of the Regional Coordinators, will continue to increase this network and our services in this Region!

More specific, GEO-CRADLE became a GEO Regional Initiative with the approval of the 2018 Work Programme Progress Report in Kyoto during the GEO WEEK 2018! This Initiative is a continuation and extension of the work of the GEO CRADLE Community Activity, which provided EO capacity building in the North Africa, Middle East, and Balkans (NAMEBA) region, now with potential to expand to the Black Sea. Also, on top of food security, energy, raw materials and climate change the Initiative will explore the incorporation of additional thematic areas such as disaster
management and water resources management, in accordance to GEO priorities.The Initiative will capitalise, sustain and scale up the results mainly achieved during the implementation of the 3-year H2020
GEO-CRADLE project.

In addition to that, our activities will be continued towards the development of Copernicus and Eurogeoss Initiative in the regions through the involvment of our team in the EUROGEOSS Showcases project.
The project will implement a coordinated and comprehensive EO data exploitation initiative through collaboration amongst the European GEO Members and Participating Organizations, in order to accelerate the users’ uptake of open EO data and information for the benefit of Europe. The general objectives are to set-up and promote a sustainable organization dedicated to users’ uptake of European EO resources, building on Copernicus and GEOSS through the development of co-design pilots (i.e. application-oriented products, services or solutions) built on a user-centric approach and delivering economic, social and policy value to European citizens.

Moreover, the GEO-CRADLE’s Liaison Office (Greek GEO Office), facilitated the procedure towards establishing in Albania a National GEO Office.

Finally, I would like to thank all the partners for their contribution in the implementation of the Project because without them it would not have been possible to make GEO-CRADE a successful Coordination and
Support Action project!

Read our news at:
http://geocradle.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/GEO-CRADLE-Newsletter-Issue-9-January.html

New free online job board platform, dedicated on GIS and Earth Observation

jobs.geo.university

Job seekers can search, find and apply to gis and earth observation job positions. They can also upload their resume to get noticed by employers. Employers can of course post their job openings and get qualified applicants. And everything is free!

Applications for this new European Master study programme now are invited until March 14

General info offered at https://www.master-cde.eu and call details at https://www.master-cde.eu/admission/procedures-deadlines/calls/ and call details at https://www.master-cde.eu/admission/procedures-deadlines/calls/. Candidates can apply for full scholarships or as self-funded students. All admitted students will start with a year at University of Salzburg’s Z_GIS and then select either Université Bretagne Sud or the University of Olomouc for their second year.

We expect excellent students from an initial background in Geoinformatics and Earth Observation with an ambition to develop a strong focus on developing competences in GeoDataScience, Application Development, Communicating with Geomedia and through Geovisualization as well as Spatial Analytics and SDI.

How far have we come in achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals that we are committed to nationally and internationally? Yes, it can be difficult to make a global assessment of poverty and poor economic conditions, but with an eye in the sky, researchers are able to give us a very good hint of the living conditions of populations in the world’s poor countries.

On satellite images, researchers can identify the smallest details in specific areas, including the size of the cottages, a decisive indicator of the living standard in the area. The images also reveal how the surrounding areas are exploited – for example for animal grazing, growing of crops or gathering firewood.

If we are to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals – which 93 member countries have committed themselves to – it is particularly important to track the living conditions in poor nations around the world where the future population growth is highest.

Researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark, recently found that high resolution satellite data can be used to map economic living conditions down to a household level, findings that are published in the prestigious American journal PNAS.

“Based on high resolution satellite images, we can very precisely assess the status of poverty at household level in rural areas in developing countries,” says professor Jens-Christian Svenning from the Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, who heads the the research group in Aarhus.

And this is good news if we are to comply with the ambitious development agenda that the world’s heads of state and government adopted at a UN Summit in New York in 2015. The goals came into force on 1 January 2016 and will until 2030 continue in setting a course for a more sustainable development to the benefit of both people and the planet that we live on.

Cheap monitoring of the conditions in poor countries

In an agricultural area in Kenya, the researchers have, based on satellite images, measured, among other things, the size of buildings and areas of uncultivated soil and the length of the growing season on a number of family run farms. The images also reveal how people use the landscape around their homes and how this changes over time.

In their study, the researchers show that a thorough analysis of satellite images can explain 62% of the variation in the economic conditions of the individual households.

As satellite images are relatively cheap and increasingly freely available, the study demonstrates that space-based monitoring is a cost-effective method to track the socio-economic development as a supplement to the classic and very expensive household surveys with interviews, etc.

In particular, the use of satellite data makes it possible to analyse the economic development at much greater geographical scale and with a high temporal frequency.

“The use of satellite images makes it much, much cheaper to keep track of how far we are in reaching the UN’s goals for sustainable development. If conventional assessments of the households’ economic conditions were used, the cost would be more than 250 billion dollars,” says Gary R. Watmough, who headed the recently published investigation and is now employed at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Space technology, and not least satellite-based data collection, appears to be a promising and necessary technology for effective monitoring of living standards in large, even global, areas. And the hope is that the developed methodology is able to ensure a better and targeted effort against poverty throughout the world.

“The method that we have developed is designed to analyse the satellite images in a way that takes into account that people have access to and use different resources in the landscape at different levels. Some use the area just around their house, while others use the common areas of a village. When we use space data with a socio-ecological insight, we capture the financial status and in this way also the development in an area much better than we have previously been able to,” says Jens-Christian Svenning.

Source

The second EO4GEO workshop and progress meeting took place in Patras, Greece from December 4th until 6th. EO4GEO is an Erasmus+ Sector Skills Alliance gathering 26 partners from 12 countries from academia, private and public sector active in the education/training and space/geospatial sectors. EO4GEO aims to help bridging the skills gap between supply and demand of education and training in the space/geospatial sector by reinforcing the existing ecosystem and fostering the uptake and integration of space/geospatial data and services in end-user applications.

The workshop was part of the current preparation of the Space/Geospatial Sector Skills Strategy. More specifically, it was meant to assess skills shortages, gaps and mismatches between the GI and EO education and training offered by academic institutions and VET providers on the one hand, and the knowledge, skills and competencies required by the market on the other hand. Results and findings from the EO4GEO surveys on the demand for and supply of EO/GI education and training in Europe were further analyzed and discussed, while also new trends, challenges and opportunities were taken into account. Some first results and insights on skills gaps and mismatches were discussed, and additionally a group of experts on skills assessments and strategies (in the GI and EO sector as well as in other sectors) were invited to discuss the future possible paths concerning the evolution of the skills and competences. In other words, an overview of the work done so far was provided, but at the same time there was room for an extensive interactive discussion by making use of breakout sessions and panel discussions.

The first intermediate results show that there is strong need for a common language for talking about EO/GI skills and occupations and point to the relevance of developing a Body of Knowledge (BoK). Existing occupational profiles related to EO/GI should be updated and new profiles should be defined, and the terminology on relevant skills should be clarified. Throughout the surveys and additional analysis and activities, it was found that there is often a confusion between skills, knowledge and competences, which are often intermixed and not used in a consistent way. An important question during the break-out session was related to the strategic actions that should be included in the development of the future space/geospatial sector skill strategy. In addition, future skills, and (potential) shortages and mismatches were discussed. Some interesting thoughts which require a more in-depth look in the next few months (related to both the Sector Skills Strategy and the skills, shortages and mismatch analysis) are for example fostering the use of GIS in secondary school and stimulate (geo)spatial skills. Although this is not the focus of EO4GEO, among some participants there was a consensus that this could prevent certain shortages (mainly related to soft skills and basic spatial skills). Related to future skills and competences, a main point of discussion was related to the separation between up- and downstream which is becoming more blurred. In addition, also the need for a more extensive trend watch was stressed. Furthermore, it was discussed that working in project teams will become the norm and that there is an ongoing trend away from professions, towards what can be called “skill-based positions”. Related to actions to bridge gaps, it was mentioned several times that soft skills needs to be incorporated in the BoK. Bringing stakeholders (also beyond the EO/GI sector) together to develop or give input for the BoK was another aspect mentioned. These and many other thoughts and results of the workshop will not only provide further input for the assessment of skills shortages, gaps and mismatches between supply and (future) demand, but also provide input for both the GI and EO Sector Skills Strategy, which will be finalized during the first months of 2019.

@Workshop organized by U. Patras and KU Leuven
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