eoVox: Strengthening the Voice of the European & Canadian Earth Observation Industry

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Project Announcement Background: The European Space Agency (ESA) has recently concluded an in-depth survey of the European and Canadian EO service industry. Some 75 small Value-Adding Companies (VACs) participated in the survey to produce the most detailed picture to date on the state and health of this industry sector. One of the results that emerge is that the industry is facing a number of challenges concerning its structure/scale, its service offerings and its industrial presence (see www.eomd.esa.int). The eoVox initiative: Following on directly from the industry survey, ESA is initiating activities to further explore issues that affect the complete EO service industry sector; eoVox is one of these activities. Within eoVox, the types of issues to be looked at are: What total service capabilities does this industry sector offer and how can these be best communicated? What are the common problems that companies face in developing business and how can public-sector development be best structured to help the industry grow? eoVox aims to gather views and comments from all companies within the industry and investigate how the common industry positions can be represented via an industrial trade body. eoVox is therefore an opportunity for all companies to voice their viewpoint on the future of the industry. The results will be looked at carefully by ESA in planning for the period 2008-13 to make sure that the needs of the industry are supported at the right scale, with the right mechanisms and of adequate duration. How to contribute to eoVox: The eoVox team will be undertaking a wide consultation exercise during 2006. As part of this process the team will interview key European and Canadian value adding companies in the first quarter. In addition, the eoVox consortium welcomes direct enquiries and contributions from the Earth Observation community in general and the Canadian and European Value adding Companies in particular. All views will be listened to and recorded in an open and transparent process. All results from this work will be published on the Internet for feedback and comment. The eoVox consortium & contacts: The eoVox consortium comprises LogicaCMG and EARSC, the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies along with consultants from ESYS and ControlWare and value adding companies Metria and C-Core. Contact points regarding the initial consultation are as follows: Northern Europe: Birgitte Holt Andersen [ birgitte.holt.andersen(at)control-ware.be ] Southern Europe: Mónica Miguel-Lago [ eovox(at)earsc.org ] Canada: Des Power [ des.power(at)c-core.ca ] Contact point for general enquiries: European Space Agency: Philippe Bally [ eomd(at)esa.int ] eoVox Project Manager: Chetan Pradhan [ chetan.pradhan(at)logica.com ]