On Copernicus MPP and WWEC 2014 at the coming Agricultural Informatics 2013 International Conference

Abstract of  HUNAGI presentation submitted to the Agricultural Informatics 2013 International Conference organised by HAAI/MAGISZ, hosted by the Debrecen University on November 8-9, 2013.

EO/GI opportunities for market players in Agricultural Informatics

Dr. Gabor Remetey-Fülöpp, HUNAGI

In agriculture the innovative solutions using advanced information technology tools including remote sensing, GI and spatial data management became inevitable to achieve higher competitiveness on the European (including domestic) market.  Recently a proposal of the European Umbrella Organisation for Geographic Information to launch a Copernicus Market Pull Pack has been accepted by the European Space Agency. The Hungarian GI Association HUNAGI (member of EUROGI) won the opportunity to arrange and host the Copernicus 1^st Country Survey and Workshop.

The Copernicus (former Global Monitoring for Environment and Security - GMES) is a joint programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission. It is the European contribution to GEOSS, the Global Earth Observation system of systems, a harmonized worldwide activity in the GEO framework.

There is a trend to strengthen the industry involvement in Earth Observation from global (GEO) to local (Copernicus MPP). To motivate and mobilize the SMEs in the field of Agricultural Informatics, information will be given on the Copernicus and Sentinel part of the European Operational Earth Observation Program where to get a clear picture on the fitness for purpose of Sentinel data and related services utilization will be the major aim of the Country Survey – an ESA/EUROGI questionnaire to be completed first in Hungary among the member states.

Main target group of the survey will be the SMEs (GI service providers and Earth monitoring value adders) but due to the importance of the potentials of the industry-academia collaboration in this field, university workshops and relevant information service providers are also invited to the survey.

Evaluation of the survey by ESA/EUROGI and HUNAGI will be presented at a dedicated workshop hosted by the Ministry of Rural Development on 12th December 2013 where all the SMEs, service providers using or apply in Earth Observation/Geographic Information are welcomed to attend and contribute.

Finally, announcement will be made for the Europa Challenge 2014 of NASA World Wind, a universal, high-end open source apps development platform applicable for EO/spatial information management, analysis and visualization. This Call for Opportunity will focus on university student teams and young professionals working for SMEs.

President of HAAI/MAGISZ Dr. Miklós Herdon was kindly asked to let the AI Conference-dedicated COPERNICUS MPP Country Survey leaflet accessible for the participants, the interested SMEs in the field of agricultural informatics  asap.