GMES and Africa Service Workshop: Coordinator urges consortia to utilise available African expertise in developing their services

On day two of the workshop, consortia presented the status of their infrastructure, data, training, and knowledge management delivery. The presentations were followed by open discussions and brainstorming on how to address the gaps, as well as cross-fertilize experiences and best practices.




In his intervention following the presentations, the GMES and Africa Coordinator, Dr. Tidiane Ouattara, called on consortia to seek African expertise in maintaining their infrastructure. Such expertise, he observed, is available in the continent and what remains is for consortia to utilise it.

Dr. Ouattara posited that for earth observation services to be sustainable, they must be aligned to national and regional priorities. He urged consortia to be active in sharing ideas and best practices, and to help partners better understand and support in addressing their needs.

In the discussions, the need was underlined for consortia to tap into targeted expertise of the private sector in developing and operationalising services. During GMES and Africa phase's one, some services were developed by consortia that need operationalization. This, and the need for services to be user-driven instead of technology-based, were also emphasized during the brainstorming session. Participants agreed on the need for consortia agreed to prepare concrete plans and roadmaps that will ignite and guide cross-fertilization initiatives amongst them.










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