486
MARY ALTALO
GEOSS (Global Earth Observing System of Systems) and The National
Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) are on the provider side.
Normally, governments and the research community are most often though
of as the provider community. However, many of the private sector
businesses also have observing systems which are increasingly being
incorporated into the framework of the global observing system. The user
community is a diverse one with the research, government, resource
management and Business community all being considered users. The
translation of the data and information into sector specific knowledge and
action is the goal. Note that either “the push” or “the pull” can make this
happen. The key is in the resourcing. As governments decide to endorse
this effort, making the information from technology advancement relevant to
their National development goals is needed. Producing and not distributing
the information to societies is a serious omission resulting in widespread loss
of human life and property (i.e., tsunami of December 2004).
The sustainability of each nation is tied to the development and best
practices management of economies, the fair governance and protection of
societies and the cultivation of a habitable environment. Only when all
aspects of national well-being are addressed will Nations thrive in the Global
context. Many nations of the world have set individual development goals to
measure their progress. In addition, the United Nations has set global
development goals, the Millennium Goals, for the alleviation of poverty,
reducing spread of disease, reduction of childhood mortality, etc. The
progress towards these goals needs to be continuously monitored, and in
many cases, earth observations are needed to demonstrate this. Identifying
and designating the earth observing system as part of a “Critical National
and International Infrastructure” to safeguard and benchmark social,
economic and environmental progress is a necessary step to the continuous
operation of the “system of systems”. Allowing the observing system
products to inform national policy, to guide market decisions, and safeguard
the environment will engender the financial support of governments and
businesses. This will change the focus from designing a “sustained”
observing system to an observing system for sustainable development. What
does this refocusing mean? It means that there needs to be new performance
metrics, new awareness, new teams, new products. This is particularly true
in setting the criteria for success of the observing system. At present the
success is measured in how well the technology performs—that is the
accuracy of the sensors, the skill of the models, the technical performance of
the integrated system as a whole. These have been set by the research agenda
and were very appropriate for the design, deployment and testing stage of
the system. However, while these criteria need still to be in place in order to
continue the refinement, upgrading, improvement and quality assurance of
the technology and models, additional criteria need to be added at this stage
as the information products of the system are applied to National
MARY ALTALO
GEOSS (Global Earth Observing System of Systems) and The National
Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) are on the provider side.
Normally, governments and the research community are most often though
of as the provider community. However, many of the private sector
businesses also have observing systems which are increasingly being
incorporated into the framework of the global observing system. The user
community is a diverse one with the research, government, resource
management and Business community all being considered users. The
translation of the data and information into sector specific knowledge and
action is the goal. Note that either “the push” or “the pull” can make this
happen. The key is in the resourcing. As governments decide to endorse
this effort, making the information from technology advancement relevant to
their National development goals is needed. Producing and not distributing
the information to societies is a serious omission resulting in widespread loss
of human life and property (i.e., tsunami of December 2004).
The sustainability of each nation is tied to the development and best
practices management of economies, the fair governance and protection of
societies and the cultivation of a habitable environment. Only when all
aspects of national well-being are addressed will Nations thrive in the Global
context. Many nations of the world have set individual development goals to
measure their progress. In addition, the United Nations has set global
development goals, the Millennium Goals, for the alleviation of poverty,
reducing spread of disease, reduction of childhood mortality, etc. The
progress towards these goals needs to be continuously monitored, and in
many cases, earth observations are needed to demonstrate this. Identifying
and designating the earth observing system as part of a “Critical National
and International Infrastructure” to safeguard and benchmark social,
economic and environmental progress is a necessary step to the continuous
operation of the “system of systems”. Allowing the observing system
products to inform national policy, to guide market decisions, and safeguard
the environment will engender the financial support of governments and
businesses. This will change the focus from designing a “sustained”
observing system to an observing system for sustainable development. What
does this refocusing mean? It means that there needs to be new performance
metrics, new awareness, new teams, new products. This is particularly true
in setting the criteria for success of the observing system. At present the
success is measured in how well the technology performs—that is the
accuracy of the sensors, the skill of the models, the technical performance of
the integrated system as a whole. These have been set by the research agenda
and were very appropriate for the design, deployment and testing stage of
the system. However, while these criteria need still to be in place in order to
continue the refinement, upgrading, improvement and quality assurance of
the technology and models, additional criteria need to be added at this stage
as the information products of the system are applied to National