Copernicus is a European programme designed to meet the needs of the public sector for space-derived, geospatial information in support of policy making. Public expenditure on the programme can also be used to support economic goals through commercial use of the data and information that Copernicus produces. The EO services downstream sector is enthusiastic about the opportunities that this can present and has been an active participant to the programme from the outset. Now, as the European Union evaluates its next steps, we consider that it is time to re-enforce the governance to include the voice of industry alongside other stakeholders. This should go hand-in-hand with an industrial strategy based on a service-led approach and coupled with a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda to help develop the sector.
Read EARSC Position Paper on Copernicus Evolution
11 July 2017. EARSC published today a position paper entitled “Copernicus evolution: Fostering Growth in the EO Downstream Services Sector”.