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(Nov 2014) Come and take a tour of our new web-site!

We are pleased to launch our new, fully-featured website. As EARSC celebrates its 25th anniversary this year we took the opportunity to create a new, fresh entry to our community so enhancing the quality and availability of information to members and stakeholders worldwide.

You will see a new user-friendly design and structure with a new look and feel and which offers more efficient access to ALL the essential information on EARSC tools, resources and the members Community.

All EARSC information and tools are easily accessible describing who we are and what we do including a news service, events calendar, library with published documents, access to EARSC communities or tools; EOpages, EOmag and the EO Portal.

Come and take a look at www.earsc.org

Sincerely,
EARSC secretariat

In many industries, the use of common standards benefits both the suppliers and the purchasers of products. The Oil & Gas and EO Service industries are no exceptions and this workshop seeks to look at the status of standards for geospatial information products supporting the Oil and Gas industry and how this applies particularly to the use of EO geospatial services throughout the sector.


The workshop will be divided into 3 sessions:
The morning plenary session for all attendees will look at the status of several activities having the goal to develop the use of standards for geospatial products. We shall hear from both users (purchasers) from the Oil and Gas industry and suppliers of EO information services. The goal is to develop a common understanding of what is available and what is happening to promote standards throughout the industry.

The afternoon session will be divided into two parts:
Parallel Workshops

  • O&G EO Workshop – mainly aimed at Oil & Gas geospatial experts, this workshop will look broadly at the use of geospatial products throughout the sector and where standardisation can help improve both efficacy and efficiency.
  • EO Industry Certification Workshop – mainly aimed at EO service providers, this workshop will be a follow-on to the EARSC Certification workshop held in April 2013. We shall hear from those companies which have been using the EARSC certification scheme documents, the lessons they have learned and what we have all learned from their experience.

Closing Plenary
The two parallel workshops will reconvene to present on the discussion outcomes and conclude by making recommendations on what can be done to improve the use of geospatial products and services throughout the Oil and Gas industry.
A common workshop report will be produced highlighting these recommendations.

Registration (02:10:2014).pdf
Programe & Logistics.pdf

Draft Programme

Morning Group Session: 09.00 – 12.30
Opening Plenary Session – O&G and EO Industry
Arrival & Coffee
Introduction and Workshop Objectives Colleen Abell – Tullow Oil
Richard Hall – Statoil, EO SC Chair
EO4OG Workshop Summary Ola Grabak – ESA
OGP EO Projects Overview EO Subcommittee – Richard Hall – Statoil
Oil Spill Response JIP – Richard Eyers – Shell?
Ice Monitoring JIPTBC
OGEO Portal – Geoff Sawyer – EARSC
OGC – Oil Spills, Common Operating Picture & Standards G. Percivall?
10.45 – 11.15 Coffee Break
Certification Workshop Summary Geoff Sawyer – EARSC
New Technologies for Offshore Monitoring – Taskforce Update Maarten Kuiper – BP
PERF Projects Summary Christian E. Haselwimmer – Chevron
Session Close: Afternoon Objective Review Richard Hall – Statoil
12.30 – 13.30 Lunch
Afternoon Session A: 13.30 – 16.15
O&G Industry EO Workshop
Review of Morning Session TBC
EO Workshop – Session Format (flash talks / discussion topics) TBC
Round Table Discussion All
15.45 – 16.15 Coffee Break
Afternoon Session B: 13.30 – 16.15
EO Industry Certification Workshop
Introduction to the meeting and the scheme T. Kukuk – GAFAG
The Certification Scheme Process P. Hollidge – Hollidge Consulting
Report from EO Service Providers
Stevenson Astrosat
AnsuR
Flyby
Planetek
Steve Lee
Hakon Eggemoen
Emilio Simeone
Sergio Samareli
Certification Body: LLoyds
Way Forward P. Hollidge – Hollidge Consulting
Round Table Discussion All
15.45 – 16.15 Coffee Break
Afternoon Group Session: 16.15 – 17.30
Closing Plenary Session – O&G and EO Industry
Session A – O&G EO Workshop – Feedback to Group TBC
Session B – Certification Workshop – Feedback to Group T. Kukuk – GAFAG
Discussion and Action Review TBC
Workshop Close Richard Hall – Statoil

was held on 25 September 2014 in Brussels with some 40 attendees. The EARSC event was an occasion to find partners to work together in the next round of H2020 calls.

It has been presented the next round of calls and information on the instruments and legalities of the space research programme. It was a splendid opportunity for networking with research institutions, academia and industry. Plus each participant had the opportunity to present their ideas for partnering on projects under the next H2020 calls.

A list participants and presentations can be found in the Research Corner in the EARSC Portal

At the Research Area you can find everything you need – information, partners, ideas – for developing your research project proposal. Find documents in the library, post announcements on the message wall, chat to other people in the lounge, learn in the classroom and when you are ready to develop your proposal further you can book a meeting room where you can discuss in more detail away from everyone else.

if you wish to sign-up simply fill in a request via the log-in page www.earsc-portal.eu

The Copernicus programme has the defined goal to generate economic growth and jobs in the European, EO services, downstream sector. This will require efforts to ensure that European industry is well-placed firstly to deliver the Copernicus Services1, so gathering the appropriate skills and competences, and secondly to exploit these in new markets for commercial and export customers.

Only by exploiting and continuously developing the skills and competences in the private sector can the programme targets be met. However, industry is concerned that the procurement approach for the Copernicus Services will not fully enable this to happen and considers that, unless appropriate policies are put into place, the opportunity may be limited or even lost.

The nature and scale of the services to be procured are unlike any other procurement action in Europe. The mix of European scale and national interest will be a challenge to manage as will be the interests of the various stakeholders including industry. The European Commission intends to delegate procurement authority and budget to a number of distinct “Entrusted Entities”, all of which have a different set of skills, technical competences and budgetary situations. Without clear guidance and imposed rules, it seems unlikely that the private sector, and especially SME’s, will become fully engaged and able to grow the downstream business sector.

A first priority is to ensure that the procurement of the Copernicus services can take benefit from all European strengths; in both public and private sectors as well as in academia. Each actor has an appropriate role to play and by doing so can help deliver on the EU objectives. The rules by which Copernicus Services will be procured will have a strong influence over the exploitation potential of the programme. Without specific measures to enable companies to lead and to participate to the maximum extent possible in the supply of Copernicus services, the necessary skills and competences will not be available to allow industry to develop and access new markets.

Hence, we consider that measures still need to be taken to harmonise the procurement of Copernicus Services by the Entrusted Entities which will act under the responsibility of the European Commission. We are strongly concerned to see that the key arrangements, i.e. the delegation agreements and the framework through which they will operate, are appropriately defined to maximise the commercial service provision and fully enable commercial exploitation. We believe that a partnership approach with industry is necessary and we are fully ready to work to achieve this. In this paper, we address the issues and make some specific proposals for measures which should be taken to overcome the barriers.

Position Paper

The EO wiki is a website whose users can add, modify or delete its content, depending on their rights. It is part of the EO Portal devoted to applications and everything about the products and services offered by the EO services industries.

For more information on the EO Portal and the full range of content together with the groups which have access, see About the EO Portal

The EO Wiki has been organised according to the EARSC taxonomy so that at the heart of the structure is a list of EO products organised into thematic areas and also assigned to market sectors. These two views are the first way to approach the database.

Then for each service there are 4 tabs ie areas of informations:

  • Applications; where content has been placed in the EO wiki then this tab should appear first. The goal is to assemble all information about that particular product or service (yes an ambitious goal!).
  • Products; this is in tabular form and contains linked information about documents that define this product. Since there may be variations or particular products then there may be multiple rows. The columns show:
    - the source of the information if it is appropriate.
    - A description of the product
    - A link to a product specification if one exists
    - Links to descriptions of any projects that have helped define the product.
  • Success Stories; this provides an array of any success stories that help to illustrate where the product has been used comprising a picture and very short description to identify the case.
  • References; which gives a list in tabular form of papers or research that help define the product or thematic area.

The EO wiki then also contains a listing of the applications and projects.

if you wish to sign-up simply fill in a request via the log-in page www.earsc-portal.eu

EARSC research area , where you will be able to find information, partners, ideas – for developing your research project proposal, has been prepared and the opening to public access has been adapted.

The Portal provides a Community focus toll offering the ability to exchange information on EO services amongst registered users. Find documents in the library, post announcements or insert one page description (ppt or jpg) of your organisation (expertise, interested topics, expected consortium..etc) on the message wall, chat to other people in the lounge, learn in the classroom and when you are ready to develop your proposal further you can book a meeting room where you can discuss in more detail away from everyone else.

To be eligible to participate to the Portal, you must be engaged in the use, supply of or research into geo-information products coming from data and imagery collected using remote sensing platforms e.g satellites, aerial UAV’s. It is a restricted community with each user accredited by the administrators according to the guidelines and abuse of user rights will result in access rights being taken away.

Be ready for geo-networking at the following link

EARSC is a non-profit-making organisation created in 1989 with the mission to foster the development of European Geo-Information Service Industry. Our main objective is to stimulate a sustainable market for geo-information services using EO data. Today, EARSC has more than 75 members in 23 countries, and is a recognized association both in Europe and worldwide.

EARSC represents the European providers of geo-information services creating a network between industry, decision-makers and users. We consider that the market is at a crucial stage of development as Earth observation becomes more frequently used by society and adds positive value to our daily lives.

Nevertheless, there are many issues, opportunities and threats facing industrial actors and, through a small secretariat, EARSC informs and involves its members though its website and newsletters, through the provision of web-tools, as well as organizing events.

Members tell us that they appreciate the opportunity to network with other similar companies/organizations and that this helps them develop new business opportunities as well as exchanging on best practices. They also like the regular flow of information as well as the knowledge that EARSC is able to influence EU and ESA policy when it is important for the sector.

For our members, the annual membership fee is a cost-effective way to stay informed and promote their company among other market sectors and communities.

The EARSC AGM has been agreed the following discount will apply for small, new companies (5 or less employees: formed in last 5 years)

  • First year €250 (33%)
  • Second year €500 (66%)
  • Third year €825 (100%)

and

Observer status has been extended to allow organisations close to the geo-information sector or non-European companies the possibility to engage with the European industry network through participation in EARSC ́s activities.

So whether your company’s objective is to increase awareness, reinforce your products and services, or identify new business opportunities, let EARSC membership to help voicing your company at institutional and commercial forums and be on communication channel.

If you want to have more details of EARSC membership please contact secretariat-at-earsc.org