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Editorial Spring 2010

Welcome to the Spring 2010 edition of the EARSC EOMag! The year has certainly got off to a very busy start both for EARSC and for the European remote sensing industry, and this is evident from the number and quality of news articles you will see in this edition of the EOMag.

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Let’s start with a quick look at what EARSC has been doing in Q1. Firstly you will have noticed that EARSC has resumed its search for a Secretary-General. Following our reopened call for interest in January, we have received a number of new applications, and the board is now in the process of short-listing and interviewing candidates in April and May. Our hope is to be able to make an announcement regarding the post at this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in June.

Secondly, EARSC has now kicked off the “eoVox-2” activity, where the association is receiving financial support from ESA for a number of exciting activities that will benefit of the European remote sensing industry. EARSC will soon be producing a series of position papers on key topics, we will be organising trade missions and producing promotional materials to help our industry reach out to new market sectors, and we will be producing a new trade directory for the industry.

Thirdly, EARSC has participated in and is preparing for a number of events at which we represent the industry as a whole. We presented on behalf of EARSC at the recent “EU-US Commercial Satellite Critical Infrastructure Protection Workshop” held at JRC in Ispra in March, and we have secured a speaker slot at this year’s ESA Living Planet symposium, where we will be presenting our members capabilities in ecosystem monitoring and assessment. Another event on the horizon is the ESA Oil and Gas workshop being held 14-15 September at ESRIN, where EARSC will make a presentation on offshore infrastructure and transportation.

Outside of EARSC, quite a lot has been happening in the EO and GMES arena since the start of 2010. You will be aware that back in 2009 the European Commission submitted its proposal to the European Parliament and Council for the initial operations of GMES; this proposal is now making its way through the parliament. See our focus interviews with MEPs Mr. Norbert Glante and Mr. Vittorio Prodi, who have been main rapporteurs responsible for presenting the draft opinion of the Industry, Research & Energy and Environment Committees respectively in to this process.

In other news the ESA Value Adding Element (VAE) programme is launching a few new activities this year – see the news article on “EOMark”, a new activity addressing evolving opportunities for EO-based information services in the geo-marketing and retail business sector, and currently under evaluation are a few studies on the use of Earth observation data in support of the activities of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The EC programme of collaborative R&D projects for GMES downstream services continues, with proposals from the 2009 call now evaluated, and successful ones soon to enter into negotiations.

Finally, EARSC has been preparing and planning for our AGM to be held in Brussels in June. This year we are planning to focus on GMES Initial Operations and on the Insurance industry sector. EARSC is very pleased indeed to announce that our keynote guest will be the Member European Parliament (MEP) Mr. Norbert Glante, the Rapporteur on GMES Initial Operations, who has kindly accepted our invitation to address the EARSC community. We are also inviting prominent guest speakers from ESA and the EC and from the insurance industry sector. I sincerely hope that you will make every effort to attend the AGM on 22-June to hear our distinguished guests and to share your views on EARSC activities and priorities for the future. We will also be updating you on the eoVox-2 activities at the AGM, and on our search for a Secretary General. I look forward to seeing you there.

My best wishes, and happy reading of this issue of EOMag!


Chetan Pradhan
EARSC Director

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Eomag!_Editorial, Issue 21_Spring 2010.pdf