CEOS SIT Technical Workshop 2020: another virtual space feat – September 2020

Together with Geoscience Australia, CSIRO (via the Centre for EO) currently chairs the inter-agency Strategic Implementation Team (SIT) of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS).

(See more on our Centre’ International Engagement page).

Similarly to the SIT-35 meeting (originally planned in Hobart six months ago), we have just delivered the SIT Technical Workshop 2020 (SIT TW), virtually again.

It is one of our three usual “annual face-to-face” meetings, dedicated to all Working Teams (workshop format), to ensure CEOS is on track to deliver by Plenary (week of 19th October this year).

Over the last few months, the SIT Chair team has been planning this online gathering. The objective was to report on progress and advance the CEOS Work Plan, while providing the opportunity for all to discuss and raise any outstanding issues before the Plenary.

The meeting was a success in many ways:

• ~120 participants registered, attending one or several sessions over the two weeks, often with 80 online at one time, including CSIRO experts (Cindy Ong, Robert Woodcock, Neil Sims) alongside the SIT Chair team (Alex Held and Flora Kerblat)
• A fortnight of 4-5h online sessions (= nights in Australia): in addition to a series of focus/thematic sessions open to all, we have structured opening and closing sessions suitable to Principals attendance (although they do not typically attend Technical Workshops). This new format created opportunities for them to hear and shape how things are progressing to Plenary.
• A mix of presentations, Q&A and focus discussions to achieve our objectives and progress CEOS activities, including but not only:
  • Showcase of Space Agencies (individual and collaborative) responses to the Covid-19 pandemic (eg. monitoring environmental variables, and preparing the economic recovery)
  • Space Agencies’ strategy on Analysis Ready Data (ARD), for land and marine observations,
  • Increased global coordination of satellite-based observations of the earth’s carbon & biomass stocks
  • Improved satellite data requirements analysis (and more) to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• We provided technical information and guidance ahead of the meeting (another ‘CEOS Virtual Meeting Protocols and Technical Guidance Document’)
• Informative discussions, decisions and outcomes, with no major technical issues

 

 

This time, we would have met in Zagreb (Croatia)… but the pandemic has forced us to stay at home and connect with our colleagues from all over the world through our devices. While mastering our conference calls skills, we keep missing the genuine face-to-face relationships allowing more spontaneity and relaxed atmosphere.

Once again, we were delighted to see the CEOS community reinforcing its commitment to continue its business with good discussion and progress towards the Plenary in a month’s time. Despite all the challenges (eg. accommodating the globe’s time differences, with many early mornings in the US and evenings for us), we managed to complete another Space Agencies’ online marathon and keep the momentum throughout our first year as SIT chair !