Although satellite services have already demonstrated their added-value for contributing to development in Africa regarding water management, food security, climate change and many other fields, their use and potential still remains largely underexploited. Two ways of improving this situation could be on the one hand, at the operational level, furthering cooperation and calibration between decision-makers, prospective and experienced users and service providers. On the other hand, at the strategic level, consolidating a comprehensive approach, coherent coordination and conducting thorough consultation of European and African stakeholders.
Eurisy and ESPI have therefore decided to tackle these issues by providing a forum for all relevant and interested actors from Europe and Africa in the course of which a wide range of common activities will be organized in 2010 and 2011 (see calendar below and joint brochure).
A first phase will focus on policy aspects and develop objectives which will be presented to the public in July 2010 as a first milestone of the project on the occasion of the start of the Belgian EU Council Presidency. The second phase will enable user consultations, stimulate cooperation among actors on the operational level and gather bottom-up feed back for joint recommendations to decision-makers on how to improve the suboptimal exploitation of satellite applications.
The Eurisy-led regional Conferences will therefore put special emphasis on identifying and disseminating good practice examples regarding the use of satellite services in Africa, and on developing the dialogue between potential and experienced users of satellite services and services providers. By the same token the identification of satellite service providers' requirements towards space infrastructure stakeholders to better respond to user needs will play a vital role, as will the identification of methods, mechanisms and means to ensure capacity transfer between the more and the less experienced users.
Eurisy and ESPI launch joint 2 year project on African development through satellite services
Although satellite services have already demonstrated their added-value for contributing to development in Africa regarding water management, food security, climate change and many other fields, their use and potential still remains largely underexploited. Two ways of improving this situation could be on the one hand, at the operational level, furthering cooperation and calibration between decision-makers, prospective and experienced users and service providers. On the other hand, at the strategic level, consolidating a comprehensive approach, coherent coordination and conducting thorough consultation of European and African stakeholders.
Eurisy and ESPI have therefore decided to tackle these issues by providing a forum for all relevant and interested actors from Europe and Africa in the course of which a wide range of common activities will be organized in 2010 and 2011 (see calendar below and joint brochure).
A first phase will focus on policy aspects and develop objectives which will be presented to the public in July 2010 as a first milestone of the project on the occasion of the start of the Belgian EU Council Presidency. The second phase will enable user consultations, stimulate cooperation among actors on the operational level and gather bottom-up feed back for joint recommendations to decision-makers on how to improve the suboptimal exploitation of satellite applications.
The Eurisy-led regional Conferences will therefore put special emphasis on identifying and disseminating good practice examples regarding the use of satellite services in Africa, and on developing the dialogue between potential and experienced users of satellite services and services providers. By the same token the identification of satellite service providers' requirements towards space infrastructure stakeholders to better respond to user needs will play a vital role, as will the identification of methods, mechanisms and means to ensure capacity transfer between the more and the less experienced users.
The following activities have already been scheduled:
- 10 February 2010: Euro-African Roundtable (on the occasion of the UNCOPUOS Scientific-Technical Subcommittee meeting) at ESPI in Vienna
- 26 May 2010: Workshop on drafting policy perspectives (strategy and coordination) at ESPI in Vienna
- July 2010: Presentation of the policy perspectives to the EU Council Presidency in Brussels
- 14-15 October 2010: Conference "Development and cooperation in the Mediterranean region using satellite services", Rabat (Morocco), led by Eurisy
- April 2011: Conference, Central Africa, led by Eurisy
- October 2011: Conference, organised by Eurisy, ESPI and IAF, during the IAC 2011 taking place in Cape Town (South Africa)
See http://www.espi.or.at/ for complementary information.
