1. GEO Implementation Mechanisms Giovanni Rum, GEO Secretariat GEO Work Programme Symposium Geneva, 2-4 May 2016

2. GEO Implementation Mechanisms GEO implements its Core Functions through a number of activities that range from substantial global activities with multi-facetted, long-term objectives, complex stakeholder communities and dedicated resources, to single-focus activities in smaller groups, all making valuable contributions. To account for this diversity, GEO will use four Implementation Mechanisms. By implementing all actions adequately and appropriately, GEO focuses its resources on selected priorities and matches expectations with available capacity. The four GEO Implementation Mechanisms are defined as follows: GEO Community Activities; GEO Initiatives; GEO Flagships; GEO Foundational Tasks.

3. GEO Implementation Mechanisms 1.GEO Community Activities allow stakeholders to cooperate flexibly in a bottom-up fashion and with a low initiation cost. 2.GEO Initiatives allow Members and Participating Organizations to coordinate their actions and contributions towards a common objective within an agreed, yet flexible framework. 3.GEO Flagships allow Members and Participating Organizations with a policy-relevant mandate to spin-up a dedicated operational service serving common needs and/or well-defined user groups. Once they reach a mature, operational stage, they may be taken up by operational organizations (e.g. GEO Participating Organizations), for their continued operation over the long term. 4.GEO Foundational Tasks allow GEO to implement selected, often enabling, tasks to achieve GEO Strategic Objectives. Thus, they provide important support functions to Flagships, Initiatives, and Community Activities.

4. GEO Implementation Mechanisms Each implementation mechanisms is meant to show compliance against a common set of criteria, that are identified in the Strategic Plan Reference Document. Main criteria Purpose / character Initiated by Accepted by Criteria Management and coordination User engagement The teams proposing GEO activities should identify the implementation mechanisms applicable for their activities and provide, in the planning documentation, evidence that the respective criteria are met.

5. GEO Implementation Mechanisms Linkage From the GEO Strategic Plan 2016-2025: Implementing GEOSS

6. GEO Implementation Mechanisms comparison GEO FlagshipsGEO Initiatives GEO Community Activities GEO Foundational Tasks Purpose / character pre-/near- operational service(s); top-down pilot or prototype service(s); top-down develop, test, or demonstrate application(s); bottom-up enabling or support function(s); top-down Initiated bySpecified Members, Participating Organization GEO CommunityGEO Secretariat Accepted byPlenaryGEO Programme Board GEO Secretariat Director Plenary (with GPW) Criteria  Policy mandate  Near-operational  Satisfies user need  User institutions specified  Resources identified and committed  Development, demonstration, pilot  Targets user need  Some users identified  Resources identified and committed  Relevance to GEO’s Strategic Objectives  Implements/supp orts GEO Core Function  Sufficient resources, identified and committed in GPW Management and coordination Dedicated mechanism; coordinatorCommunity-basedGEO Secretariat or Working Group User engagementSpecifically identified, fully engaged, role in steering. Target user groups generally identified, with at least an advisory role. May vary, depending on activity. May vary, depending on Task.

7. Community Activities, GEO Initiatives and Flagships requested planning documents To maximize the availability of the minimum information necessary to assess the suitability of a certain Implementation mechanism, the Programme Board has developed an annotated ToC of GEO Initiatives and GEO Flagships. The plan should be complemented by a summary description (the latter to be included in the body of the GEO Work Programme) For Community Activities a short summary of the activity plan should be provided also for inclusion in the Work Programme. Table of contents provided to the Community in mid-February in the call for contributions to the 2017-19 Work Programme.

8. GEO Initiatives and GEO Flagships Implementation Plan Template for GEO Work Programme 2017-2019 Table of contents (20 pages maximum) Executive Summary (1 page) 1. Synopsis of objectives and benefits (2 pages) List of objectives and planned way of attaining them Expected outcomes, impacts and user/societal benefits Relevance to GEO’s strategic objectives For Flagships: identification of Policy Mandate (one extra page) 2. Relationship to previous developments and results (one page) New activity or an extension/follow-up to a previous activity Status and outcomes of previous activity, if applicable Relationship between the new and existing activity (objectives, teams, added value to ongoing activities within and outside of GEO) 3. Participants/contributors (one page) Organizations, institutions, government agencies, private sector Their roles in/contributions to the project

9. GEO Initiatives and GEO Flagships Implementation Plan Template for GEO Work Programme 2017-2019 4. Description of activities (4 pages) Tasks definition, overall logic and phasing Geographical scope Tasks description (for each of them: description, planning, partners responsibilities, resources) Capacity building/science & technology/training activities; communication/outreach/branding Expected connections to other areas of the GEO Work Programme 5. Involvement of end-users (2 pages) How established user communities link to, or participate in the initiative How the activity would benefit stakeholders (in particular developing countries) How it feeds into decision-making processes 6. Planning, including specific milestones and deliverables (2 pages) Implementation plan Milestones and deliverables (with Gantt chart) Monitoring and evaluation approach, including feedback from participants/partners Reporting to participants and to GEO Secretariat/PB

10. GEO Initiatives and GEO Flagships Implementation Plan Template for GEO Work Programme 2017-2019 7. Data management & data policy (2 pages) Description of the key datasets used or created by the activity Degree of adherence to the GEOSS Data Sharing and Data Management Principles Contributions to the GEOSS Data CORE Interoperability with the GCI (GEOSS Common Infrastructure) 8. Risk assessment (one page) Risk assessment Risk mitigation plan and required resources Risk management procedures 9. Management and governance (one page) Organizational structure Project coordinator and supporting organization Advisory/steering committee Communication with partners and participants

11. GEO Initiatives and GEO Flagships Implementation Plan Template for GEO Work Programme 2017-2019 10. Summary of committed resources and annual budget(s) (one page) Secured and expected resources (cash and in-kind) Sources of funding, data, services, etc. Annual budget allocation 11. For Flagship candidates, path to operational phase (one page) Steps for the transition of the Flagship from the implementation to the fully operational phase Operational plan, goals, objectives, requirements, challenges, threats Leadership, management, resources and sustainability Concrete actions in support of policy mandate, communications, user involvement ANNEXES Technical Annex(es), if applicable Acronyms and Abbreviations List of references CV of Project Leader and names Full addresses of all participants

12. Community Activities GEO Initiatives and Flagships Summary Description Template for GEO Work Programme 2017-2019 Table of contents (4 pages maximum) 1. 2017-2019 Overview Objectives Overall plans 2. Summary Plans for 2017 Activities, milestones and outputs Resource Summary 3. Leaders and Contributors

13. 13 Thank you! Giovanni Rum: grum@geosec.orggrum@geosec.org