20February 2013 – The Group on Earth Observations(GEO) hasannounced a Call for Participation (CFP) in the 6th phase of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems(GEOSS) Architecture Implementation Pilot (AIP-6). AIP-6 aims to increasethe use of GEOSS resources by end-users. An end-user might be, for example, afarmer in a developing nation whose cell phone app accesses an online servicethat supplies planting advice and market forecasts based on sophisticatedprocessing of data acquired by satellites, local Internet-connected sensors,and social networks.
TheOpen Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) provides leadership in AIP-6 and invites OGCmembers and other organizations to respond to the CFP. The CFP document isavailable at: http://earthobservations.org/geoss_call_aip.shtml.
GEOwas launched in response to calls for action by the 2002 World Summit onSustainable Development and by the G8 (Group of Eight) leading industrializedcountries. GEOSS technical architecture, data sharing agreements, capacitybuilding and user engagement programs comprise a durable platform forexploiting the growing potential of Earth observations to support decisionmaking in an increasingly complex and environmentally stressed world.
Throughintegration with the technology resources in the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI),AIP-6 will demonstrate how users can now begin to benefit from a decade of GEOactivities. The specific goals of AIP-6 are to:
- Increase Societal Benefit Area (SBA) use of GEOSS resources by end- users
- Increase the availability of GEOSS resources
- Focus on benefits and usability for Developing Countries
- Strengthen previous GEO results and technical achievements
AIP-6builds on the results and infrastructure set up in prior AIPs.
TheAIP-6 schedule will support the GEO Plenary and Ministerial Summit, to be held15-17 January 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland. AIP-6 will also support the Sprintto Summit initiative from the GEO Implementation Boards. A Kickoff Workshop forAIP-6 will be held from 28-29 March in Washington, D.C.
ThisCFP invites GEO Members and Participating Organizations to participate in AIP-6through activities such as:
- Leading GEOSS SBAdemonstrations
- Tutorialdevelopment as expert guidance to GEOSS SBA users
- Client applicationsfor GEOSS users to download and utilize GEOSS resources
- Support of GEOlegal interoperability efforts, e.g., user registration
- Integration andtesting to enable GCI promote helper applications for users
- Enhancements to theGEOSS test facility
Responsesto this CFP are requested by 15 March 2013. Discussion and clarification of theCFP and the initiation of AIP-6 will be the topic of weekly teleconferences.Agenda and logistics for these telecons are posted at http://www.ogcnetwork.net/AIPtelecons.
ThePoint of Contact for the AIP initiative is Bart De Lathouwer, bdelathouwer [at]opengeospatial.org.
TheOGC® is an international consortium of more than 480 companies, governmentagencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensusprocess to develop publicly available geospatial standards. OGC Standardsempower technology developers to make geospatial information and servicesaccessible and useful with any application that needs to be geospatiallyenabled. Learn more about the OGC at http://www.opengeospatial.org/contact. See our recent “What is the OGC?” video.
GEO,a voluntary partnership of 156 governments and international organizations, iscoordinating efforts to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems, orGEOSS. See http://earthobservations.org/about_geo.shtml.
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