South Africa to host internatinal GEO Summit

18 October 2007, 11:01am

12 October 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 from 28 to 30 November.

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) 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.
Bona fide journalists can register by submitting the attached accreditation form. Media room facilities will be available at the conference, and a press conference will be organized on Friday morning (30 November).

A press kit will be available in mid-November.
For more information, please see www.earthobservations.org and www.dst.gov.sa, or contact:
•Nhlanhla Nyide, Department of Science & Technology, South Africa, at +27 (0) 82 871 6767 or email: nhlanhla.nyide@dst.gov.za; or

•Michael Williams, GEO Secretariat, Geneva, at +41 22 730 8293 or mwilliams@geosec.org.

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.

GEO Secretariat: 7 bis, avenue de la Paix • Case postale 2300 • CH-1211 Geneva 2 • Switzerland
Tel: +41 (0) 22 730 85 80 • Fax: +41 (0) 22 730 85 20 • secretariat@geosec.org • www.earthobservations.org

Group on Earth Observations – Plenary IV and Ministerial Summit, 28 to 30 November 2007, Cape Town, South Africa

www.earthobservations.org

Geo: International