South
Africa to host international Ministerial Summit on “Global
Earth Observation System of Systems” on 28-30 November
2007
The 71 member governments (and the European Commission) and
46 participating organizations of the Group on Earth Observations
(GEO) will meet at the Cape Town International Convention
Centre, South Africa, from 28 to 30 November 2007.
The meeting will assess progress on constructing a comprehensive,
global monitoring system that will enable end-users to access
a vast quantity of near-real-time information on changes in
the Earth’s land, oceans, atmosphere and biosphere via
a single web portal.
This emerging system will interlink the world’s widely
dispersed ocean buoys, weather stations, satellites and other
Earth observation instruments into one seamless system. This
will reduce humanity’s vulnerability to disasters and
environmental change while enabling countries to better manage
their agricultural, energy, water and other natural resources.
The conference will consider some 90 “early achievements”
presented by the various participants. The Plenary meeting
(28-29 November 2007) will assess the progress made over the
past year and decide on future actions. The Ministerial Summit
(30 November) will review a high-level Report on Progress
and issue a Ministerial Declaration.
During the three days, an exhibition on Earth observation
systems will feature some of the most sophisticated and up-to-date
observation instruments and decision-support tools available
today. The exhibit will include PC-based demonstrations and
a series of videos.
For more information on this event, please see www.earthobservations.org
and www.dst.gov.za,
or contact:
About GEO: GEO is an intergovernmental
body that is leading a worldwide effort to build a Global
Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) over a 10-year
period. GEOSS will work with and build upon existing national,
regional, and global systems to provide comprehensive, coordinated
Earth observations from thousands of instruments worldwide
and to transform the data they collect into vital information
for society.
Source: South African Department
of Science and Technology
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