Strategic Cooperation Council Newsletter

Monday May 28, 2018

In this edition:

Thoughts on the Last Six Years
Path Towards a Coastal Observatory
Calendar of Events

THOUGHTS ON THE LAST SIX YEARS

Dr. Barbara Ry an,

Secretariat Director, Group on Earth Observations

As the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) prepares to transition to the next Secretariat Director, it is an good time to look back over the last six years and forward to the next - examining both the advances made under my tenure, and the challenges that remain.

During my time with GEO, we have grown from 89 to 105 Member governments - representing approximately 1000 national agencies worldwide, and from 60 to 126 Participating Organizations. GEO’s growth is reflective of the increased interest in our partnership, and value derived from it, particularly for three key engagement areas: the United Nations 2030 Global Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement for Climate and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

There has also been a 400-fold increase in the number of Earth observation resources that are discoverable and accessible through our information infrastructure, the GEOSS Platform (up from 1M to 400M since 2012), due in large part to the introduction of a brokering mechanism with multiple application interfaces.

Despite these significant advances, more, however, remains to be done. The number of countries with broad, open data sharing policies and practices has increased substantially, but there are still many that don’t openly share the data they collect. We need to continue to advocate globally for open data, particularly for data collected at taxpayer expense. The positive impact of open data on capacity development, education, environmental transparency, governance, and economic growth is well-documented.

More work also remains to be done on an issue of particular relevance to SCC and NEON: increased coordination of terrestrial observations globally. There are excellent examples of international coordination and cooperation of observing networks, yet these networks often focus on domain-specific observations. In order for GEO to build a truly Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), we would like to see - and help facilitate - more interaction among these diverse observing networks.

While I prepare for the next adventures in my life, I want to personally thank everyone who has helped make GEO what it is today. I look forward to seeing GEO continue to increase its positive impact on our planet under the leadership of Gilberto Câmara , the incoming Secretariat Director.

GEO invites all those working with, or benefiting from, Earth observations to contribute to GEO’s activities and initiatives - including governments, organizations, businesses, research institutions, academia, the media, and citizens. There is room for everyone in GEO, and our work is serving to benefit society as a whole.

PATH TOWARD A COASTAL OBSERVATORY

Dr. Behzad Mortazavi,

University of Alabama

Participants with a large range of knowledge, skills, and experience met at a workshop; “Path Toward a Coastal Observatory” on May 7-9, 2017 in Georgetown, South Carolina. This community-driven workshop was established to explore the needs and scientific motivations for design of a large-scale, integrated coastal observatory. The overarching goals for the workshop were, through a community process, to (i) synthesize the current societal, scientific, economic imperatives of understanding integrated coastal ecology (nationally and internationally) in light of a changing environment, (ii) develop conceptual designs of a coastal observatory to address these imperatives, and (iii) determine and plan and actionable path forward. The participants examined how this observatory could facilitate integrating theory, observational data and models, and how the Coastal Observatory of the future could integrate with existing networks and enhance their capabilities. The workshop participants emphasized that a successful Coastal Observatory would generate data products and tools that address societal need and facilitate decision-making. The workshop was hosted and co-sponsored by the Battelle-National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), Clemson University’s Belle W. Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science (BICEFS), the University of South Carolina’s Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences (BIMCS), and COOP+ (Horizon 2020 EU project).

2018 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Jun e 6-8: Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Symposium

EarthCube welcomes project participants, new PIs, early career researchers and scientists, and all other interested parties to the 2018 All Hands Meeting (AHM) June 6-8, 2018 in Washington DC. The meeting begins on Wednesday morning and ends on Friday after lunch.

Since the first AHM in 2014, the meeting has been a critical opportunity to make connections, communicate advances, and help plan the future of EarthCube. The 2018 AHM, “Platform for Integration,” focuses on the many successes achieved so far by the EarthCube Community. Highlights will feature a demonstration of the pilot registry work (Project 418,) technology integration, how EarthCube defines its own success, and ways to enhance engagement in the scientific community and with external partners.

For more information and registration please visit this page .

Jun e 11-12: Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Symposium

This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the future of the GEO Work Programmes, share knowledge and connect with others from the global GEO community. Anyone working to ensure Earth observations play a central role in decision making across environmental and development domains is welcome to attend. The encourage participation from those already involved in the GEO Work Programme, as well as those interested in getting involved.

For more information and registration please visit this page.

August 5-10: ESA 103rd Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA

For more information and registration please visit this page.

September 12-14: ICRI 2018 - 4th International Conference on Research Infrastructur es. Vienna, Austria

ICRI 2018 aims to:

·provide a forum for strategic discussion on international cooperation for research

infrastructures at global level;

·highlight the essential role of research infrastructures in addressing global challenges

and contributing to Sustainable Development Goals;

·reflect on the needs, development, and operation of global and national research

infrastructures;

·build on the outcomes of ICRI 2016, discussing existing and emerging challenges

faced by RI stakeholders and investigating policy options and possible steps forward.

For more information and registration please visit this page .

September 12-14: Phenology 2018 Conference. Melbourne, Australia

This will be the fourth international phenology conference sponsored by our Commission, and our venues now span four continents and both hemispheres! Phenological research continues to expand in relevance, volume, and applications, especially in relation to global climate change. I hope that you are making plans to participate, and look forward to hearing all about your research progress while we are in Melbourne.

For more information and registration please visit this page .