2. Splinter Session 1a : Identify topics Europe would like to have included in the 2012-15 GEO WP Chair: Luigi Fusco, ESA Reporting: Luca Demicheli, EuroGeoSurveys Time: 11:30 – 13:00 Objectives:Identify European interest in and contribution to the GEO Work Plan 2012-15

3. Focus on: i.the implementation of an operational and sustainable GEOSS offering full & open access, including interoperable observing, modelling and dissemination systems; ii.the development of information products and end-to- end services tailored to serve society’s needs across the nine Societal Benefit Areas.

4. How can the EU funded EO projects be FULLY Integrated into the 2012-15 Work Plan?

5. DATA Facilitate access to in-situ data also incorporating international data into EU systems Integrate of in-situ and remote sensing data Classification of in-situ data collection Work to ensure that remote sensing data and in-situ data match Need for international cooperation for in-situ data collection in a coordinated and systematic way

6. DATA Develop open access harmonised pan-European datasets Privilege open standards and open access based projects Promote coordination of research and coordination of capacity building Need for data calibration and validation Need for multiscale and multi-temporal information

7. USERS Train the users and ensure they have access to and use the data Improve information on data sharing principles and on how to share data via GEOSS Improve coordination Engage users since the very beginning in order to define the needed time and spatial scales Ensure interaction with SMEs is maintained both in term of service provision (e.g. processing) and of users interface

8. GAPS Better develop the architecture that currently appears unbalanced towards services and, anyway, lacking focus Integration of the industry and link it to research Support the development of specific sensors Need to make datasets and infrastructures interoperable Promote the use of GEO data and interoperability Development of more accurate mapping (e.g. agriculture) and statistics

9. GAPS Expand success projects applied regionally to other areas Develop web processing services and distributed computing (grid/cloud) to meet on-demand users needs Enhance the capability for near real-time data flow (e.g. biogeochemical data) A main gap seems to be the lack of attention to resources crucial for sustainable development (e.g. mineral resources) and of major EU concern

10. GAPS Couple relevant EU recent policies such as the Raw Material Initiative, bringing it to the global scale through GEOSS Ensure continuity of capacity building, especially in developing countries Evaluate the possibility of regionally designed grants Link to SBAs when appropriate

11. SPECIFIC Expand the number of greenhouse gases under analysis: not only CO2. Linking the GEOSS community to research university programmes Need to overcome problems, such as hydrological variability and promote data harmonisation (difficulties in integrating very diverse data and models)

12. SPECIFIC Develop statistics on water and energy consumption Some areas (e.g. Biodiversity) suffer due to the lack of (harmonised) databases To better include sea and freshwater quality into the GEOSS Work Plan

13. SPECIFIC More attention to integrate different SBAs: Include biodiversity and geohazards into ocean related studies Develop ocean monitoring to address also emergency response (e.g. oil spills) Support the research and development of biogeochemical sensors