2nd Assessment of Progress against
the GEOSS 2015 Strategic Targets
Implementation Boards
© GEO Secretariat
Rationale
 Same Structure
 Evolving Process
 Learning by doing
Strategic
Target
Work Plan
Tasks
G
Green: Expected to be achieved. Some actions/intervention may be required
Y
Yellow: At risk of not being achieved without additional actions/intervention
R
Red:
Not expected to be achieved without significant actions/intervention
© GEO Secretariat
 Refer to Plenary document
no. 7 for details
Assessment Process:
Information Sources
In a Qualitative Assessment Process, all three boards used:
• Query Tool and Reports from Task sheets, where available
• Presentations & discussions at GEO Work-Plan Symposium
IDIB used invited presentations during Board Meetings
SBIB used contributing activities e.g in GEO BON network
IIB used various additional inputs:
• Workshops on GEOSS future products and Architecture
• Independent assessment of GeoWebPortal
• Survey of GEOSS Data CORE awareness in GEO Community
• Testing of data access for Essential Climate Variables
Biodiversity
Establish, in conjunction with a comprehensive
ecosystem monitoring capability, a worldwide
biodiversity observation network to collect,
manage, share and analyze observations of the
status and trends of the world's biodiversity, and
enable decision-making in support of the
conservation and improved management of
natural resources.
BI
BI-f
BI-e
BI-d
BI-c
BI-b
BI-a
BI-01
EC-01
CL-02
HE-01
SB-02
SB-01
IN-01
 GEO Members to support biodiversity monitoring (in-situ and remote
sensing) through development of National and Regional Biodiversity
Observation Networks (BONs), and by supporting the capacity building
and facilitation activities of GEO BON in this regard.
Water
Produce comprehensive sets of data and
information products to support decision
making for efficient management of the
world's water resources, based on
coordinated, sustained observations of the
water cycle on multiple scales.
WA
WA-f
WA-e
WA-d
WA-c
WA-b
WA-a
WA-01
HE-02
SB-05
SB-04
IN-01
 GEO Members and Participating Organizations to review the recently
published GEOSS Water Strategy recommendations, especially those
related to observations, information systems, data exchange, capacity
development and funding requirements, to identify those activities
they could commit to in order to advance the GEO water task.
Architecture
Achieve sustained operation, continuity and
interoperability of existing and new systems
that provide essential environmental
observations and information, including the
GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI) that
facilitates access to, and use of, these
observations and information.
AR
AR-e
AR-d
AR-c
AR-b
AR-a
IN-05
IN-04
IN-03
IN-02
IN-01
 GEO Members and Participating Organizations should extend GEOSS
Data CORE, and ensure that initiatives aimed at developing research data
infrastructures, and new data sources such as sensor networks and citizencontributed information are made interoperable and accessible through
GEOSS.
© GEO Secretariat
Data Management
DM
DM-d
DM-c
DM-b
DM-a
Provide a shared, easily accessible, timely,
sustained stream of comprehensive data of
documented quality, as well as metadata and
information products, for informed decisionmaking.
SB-04
SB-02
ID-01
IN-05
IN-04
IN-03
IN-02
 GEO Plenary is asked to establish a Task-Force to draft GEOSS Data
Management Principles for submission at GEO XI Plenary. Data
Management Principles cover the entire data life-cycle from planning, to
acquisition, quality assurance, documentation, access, and archiving.
This effort would complement the existing work of the GEOSS Data
Sharing Working Group, in which it is also necessary to solicit good
representation from the Middle East, South America, and Asia-Pacific
© GEO Secretariat
Science & Technology
Ensure full interaction and engagement of
relevant science and technology communities
such that GEOSS advances through integration
of innovations in Earth observation science and
technology, enabling the research community to
fully benefit from GEOSS accomplishments.
ST
ST-c
ST-b
ST-a
ID-05
ID-03
IN-02
 GEO should establish links with national and regional activities on
Future Earth and the broader Sustainable Development Goal
agenda and support these initiatives by increasing the number of
accessible, regional and global scientific data sets that are necessary
for improved Earth System models in the different SBA.
Climate
CL
CL-d
CL-02
CL-01
SB-03
SB-04
CL-b
SB-02
CL-c
CL-a
SB-01
Achieve effective and sustained operation of
the global climate observing system and
reliable delivery of climate information of a
quality needed for predicting, mitigating and
adapting to climate variability and change,
including for better understanding of the global
carbon cycle.
 GEO Members and Participating Organisations should contribute
national/international activities related to climate and carbon
information production, use, and access; align data policies with the
GEOSS Data Sharing Principles; and make the data accessible through the
GEOSS Portal.
Disasters
Enable the global coordination of observing and
information systems to support all phases of the
risk management cycle associated with hazards
(mitigation and preparedness, early warning,
response, and recovery).
DI
DI-e
DI-d
DI-c
DI-b
DI-a
WE-01
WA-01
EC-01
DI-01
SB-04
 GEO Members and Participating Organizations that own data and
products relevant to disaster risk reduction (e.g. calibration/validation
data) please expand national/international contributions to the
Disasters Work Plan Task (DI-01)
Energy
EN
EN-d
EN-c
EN-b
EN-a
WE-01
EN-01
DI-01
SB-05
Close critical gaps in energy-related Earth
observations and increase their use in all
Energy sectors in support of energy
operations, as well as energy policy planning
and implementation, to enable affordable
energy with minimized environmental impact
while moving towards a low-carbon footprint.
 GEO Members and Participating Organisations should develop and
provide data, information, tools, products, methodologies and
technical/financial support for the mapping of renewable and nonrenewable energy potential and impact assessment (short and long
term) of energy exploitation
Health
HE
HE-c
HE-b
HE-a
HE-02
HE-01
SB-05
SB-04
Substantially expand the availability, use, and
application of environmental information for
public health decision-making in areas of
health that include allergens, toxins, infectious
diseases, food-borne diseases, and chronic
diseases, particularly with regard to the impact
of climate and ecosystem changes.
 GEO Members should substantially increase financial resources
and technical capacity at the country level to develop health
decision making forecasting and other tools, test them, and make them
available for use by the country authorities.
Weather
WE
WE-c
WE-b
WE-a
IN-02
IN-01
WE-01
Close critical gaps in meteorological and
related ocean observations, and enhance
observational and information capabilities for
the protection of life and property, especially
with regard to high-impact events, and in the
developing world.
 GEO Members and Participating Organisations should support the
enhancement and maintenance of TIGGE (THORPEX Interactive
Global Grand Ensemble), a user-friendly database of global ensemble
weather forecasts, tools and products
Capacity Building
Enhance the coordination of efforts to strengthen
individual, institutional and infrastructure
capacities, particularly in developing countries, to
produce and use Earth observations and derived
information products.
CB
CB-d
CB-c
CB-b
CB-a
ID-05
ID-02
IN-04
 GEO Members and Participating Organisations should increase support
for capacity building activities through resource allocation and outreach
by capitalising on the resources now allocated to approved
projects/programmes for GEO capacity building measures,
such those of CEOS and FP7 (e.g. EOPOWER, IASON)
© GEO Secretariat
User Engagement
Ensure critical user information needs for
decision making are recognized and met
through Earth observations.
UE
UE-c
UE-b
UE-a
SB-05
ID-04
ID-03
ID-02
ID-01
IN-04
 All Members, Participating Organisations and Task Leads to review
Task contributions to strengthen ties to the Task’s specific user
communities; for example, they should support at least one User
Engagement Session per year.
Agriculture
Improve the utilization of Earth observations and
expanded application capabilities to advance
sustainable agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and
forestry in areas including early warning, risk
assessment, food security, market efficiency, and,
as appropriate, combating desertification.
AG
AG-g
AG-f
AG-e
AG-d
AG-c
AG-b
AG-a
AG-01
EC-01
WE-01
CL-01
SB-03
SB-02
SB-01
 GEO Members and Participating Organisations to identify key agencies
and institutions to (i) join a national/international network for
agricultural resource management, food security and disaster
mitigation, and (ii) host regional targeted workshops for
GEOGLAM activities
Ecosystem
EC
EC-e
EC-d
EC-c
EC-b
EC-a
BI-01
EC-01
WA-01
CL-02
HE-02
SB-05
SB-04
SB-03
SB-02
SB-01
Establish, in conjunction with a comprehensive
biodiversity observation network, a wide-ranging
monitoring capability for all ecosystems and the
human impacts on them, to improve the
assessment, protection and sustainable
management of terrestrial, coastal and marine
resources and the delivery of associated
ecosystem services.
 GEO Members with critical biomes (e.g., coastal zones in Southern
Asia and Africa: arid and semi-arid areas, wetlands, mountain regions)
should participate in resource management activities (e.g., coastal
ecosystem;) observational networks (e.g., Global Dryland Observation
Network); pilot projects (e.g., Global Wetlands Observation System),
and network development (Global Network for Observation and
information in Mountain Environments (GEO-GNOME)
Overall Trend
GEOSS Strategic Targets
Strategic Target
Architecture
Data Management
Capacity Building
Science & Technology
User Engagement
Agriculture
Biodiversity
Climate
Disasters
Ecosystems
Energy
Health
Water
Weather
AR
DM
CB
ST
UE
AG
BI
CL
DI
EC
EN
HE
WA
WE
Plenary IX
(2012)
Plenary X
(2014)
Trend
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
G
Y
Y
R
G
Y
G
Y
Y
Y
G
Y
G
G
Y
Y
Y
Y
G
Y
Y
Y
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Summary
• The Boards are learning how to do this better; this year’s
assessment is based on more information than last year’s
• Thus, a Target doing better or worse is not necessarily an
indication that things are actually better or worse at the
component and task level; it may simply mean that the
assessment is more complete and informed than last year
• Most tasks would benefit from increased funding...
• Cross task coordination, especially in the atmosphere of
resource constraints, is vital but remains hard to assess.
Boards need to find ways to focus more on these aspects
• GEO should establish strong strategic contacts with other
development agendas, like post MDG, SDG etc., to see EO
become more widely used; we mustn’t be passive in this
• Our qualitative assessment indicates an overall improvement
© GEO Secretariat
Thank you!
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© GEO Secretariat