| [ NEWSLETTER # 4, December 2009 ] |
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AEGOS continued to engage positively with the Group on Earth Observations at a series of three GEO meetings throughout Autumn 2009. In September, AEGOS was represented during the round of GEO Committee meetings that were held at the Bureau of Meteorology in Melbourne, Australia. Discussions focused on ways to increase the involvement of the wider scientific community in GEO, something clearly relevant to the geological sciences. Because the geological sciences are not yet well represented in GEO – there is no Societal Benefit Area covering mineral resources, for example – it is important to make sure that we engage positively and create new links to geo-resources issues in GEO. This will be the subject of an AEGOS workshop, being organised by AEGOS in London in July 2010. In October, AEGOS was again present at the GEO European Projects Workshop organised by European Commission (EC). It was hosted by Tubitak in Istanbul, Turkey. AEGOS presented an updated poster and again enjoyed beneficial interaction with other GEO projects, such as OneGeology Europe and the new, minerals-focused GEO project EO-MINERS. One of the main discussions was on preparations for the GEO Ministerial, to be held in Beijing, China from 3rd-5th of November 2010. AEGOS was highlighted in presentation on the topic of GEO’s capacity building efforts. In November, AEGOS was present at the GEO Plenary and associated Committee Meetings. The Plenary started well for AEGOS, with EuroGeoSurveys (EGS), name-checking the project in their opening remarks. The EGS Secretary General noted that “the African-European Georesources Observing System, an EC-funded, GEO sub-task run by some EGS members, continues to develop and is making a positive contribution to GEO's capacity building activities in Africa. The project is gearing up for a trial broadcast of geological data to African countries using GeoNetCast. At the moment, the focus is on the contractual arrangements between the project and EUMETSAT, who operate the service. During the Plenary decisions of the GEO Ministerial, the International Union of Geological Sciences would be admitted to GEO as a new Participating Organisation. The adoption of a single GEO Portal and Clearinghouse before the Ministerial is also of interest to AEGOS in terms of its own Spatial Data Infrastructure. In addition, the evolution of the GEO Data Sharing Principles, due to be implemented following the 2010 Ministerial, will have important implications for the AEGOS Business Model adopted to take the project into the implementation phase and beyond.
Work package 7 co-leader
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