1. CEOS Response to IPWG on Draft GEO Strategy 2016-2025
Committee on Earth Observation Satellites
CEOS Response to IPWG on Draft GEO Strategy
CEOS Executive Officer Team
Agenda Item 5
GEO Coordination
CNES, Paris
31st March to 1st April 2015

2. Key Messages
1 - CEOS values its ability to contribute to GEO as we have done for so many years as the recognised “space arm” of the GEOSS. CEOS has the unique ability to support GEO in the space domain. CEOS supported the establishment of GEO. Since that time, space agencies from around the world – presently 31 – have coordinated their current and planned systems for spaceborne Earth observations through CEOS. With some 133 on-orbit missions at the present time CEOS strongly believes it should be granted permanent observer status on ExCom due to its unique position as the satellite coordination arm of GEO, and the unparalleled scale of its contribution to GEO activities, including discoverable assets and major global initiatives such as GFOI, GEOGLAM.
2 - GEO is uniquely positioned to convene diverse bodies to agree on working together toward the same strategic direction. How GEO will develop, and harness, its power to convene and connect should be emphasized.
3 - The role of GEO Secretariat in engaging with stakeholders such as donors, investment banks, UN Agencies and the private sector should be made explicit and a priority activity for the GEO Secretariat.

3. Key Messages
4 - Communities of Practice should be aligned with the Societal Benefit Areas and deliver prioritised user requirements that feed into the observational domains that will define the delivery mechanisms.
5 - GEO should put a particular focus in the next ten-year period on the improved coordination of in-situ observations and of integration of observations from different platforms, such as space and in-situ.
6 - A performance monitoring and evaluation system with clear 10-year goals for SBAs should be an integral part of the governance. It should enable stakeholders to clearly distinguish between the coordination of space and in situ observations in support of the GEOSS.

4. Actions
SIT 30-6
CEOS agencies to work within their respective countries and consult with their GEO principal to identify Ministers who might receive the Information Note that the Mexican Government/GEO Secretariat will be sending in advance of formal invitations to the GEO Ministerial
15 April
SIT 30-7
SIT Chair to coordinate with CEO Team and CEOS SEC to conclude the refined CEOS submission to GEO on their draft Post-2015 Strategy, reflecting agreements reached at SIT-30
10 April
SIT 30-8
CEOS Principals to convey the agreed strategic messages, emphasising the desire for CEOS to be represented on ExCom, to (where relevant) national GEO ExCom members.
May 2015