Space Technology Applications Section
|
Environment and Natural Resources Management Space Technology Applications Section |
Taejeon, Republic of Korea, from 12 to 14 May 1997
The meeting was attended by 43 participants from the following 23 ESCAP member countries, one non-ESCAP member state and three international/intergovernmental organizations: Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Fiji, France, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, Canada, FAO, ESA and ESCAP. In addition, ten observers from interested government organizations of the host country, and from the industrial sector from abroad, also attended the meeting.
The Regional Working Group adopted the following agenda:
(1) Opening of the Meeting.
(2) Election of officers.
(3) Adoption of the agenda.
(4) Progress in the implementation of the Strategy for Regional Cooperation in
Space Applications for Sustainable Development and the Action Plan on
Space Applications for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific, with
special reference to the area of remote sensing, geographic information
systems and satellite-based positioning applications, in light of the
recommendations of the last meeting of the Regional Working Group.
SUMMARY
A. Conclusions
The Meeting expressed satisfaction at the progress made at the regional level, particularly with respect to activities related to national capacity-building covering human resource development through a large number of seminars, workshops, training and fellowship studies, and institutional strengthening through regional cooperation pilot projects, plus information exchange through the Regional Information Service, which is developing of a manual, guidelines and technical proceedings.
The Meeting emphasized the importance of the role of the Coordination Office and the commitment and initiative of the Coordinator. It stressed the need for the Coordination Office to strengthen its interaction with members and the ESCAP secretariat. The Coordination Office should seek support from its Government to provide substantive assistance in the implementation of the activities of the Regional Working Group.
It was considered that the annual meeting of the Regional Working Group constituted an indispensable forum to gain the commitment of the national contact points to work together and that the regular participation of all national contact points in its annual meeting was essential for the successful operation of the Regional Working Group.
The members were informed that future support by ESCAP to some developing countries for participation in the annual meetings of the Regional Working Group would face serious problems and it therefore called for advance preparation for attending future sessions with government funding support.
The Meeting stressed that it was important for the Regional Working Group to set up clear, achievable objectives for its work that would adopt an application-driven approach and create tangible impact on solutions for environment and sustainable development.
The Meeting agreed that, owing to the varying needs of the countries of the region, the regional cooperative activities should emphasize a sub-regional or sub-grouping strategy, as well as institutional twinning through TCDC arrangements.
The Meeting recognized that there was a need to develop a minimum common programme with very specific, achievable objectives and measurable outputs, along with a step-by-step implementation strategy to address various urgent needs of the region.
The Meeting also believed that the minimum common programme for the Regional Working Group should be based on the priorities identified in the national sustainable development programmes as well as the recommendations of the International Symposium on Space Applications for Sustainable Development held in conjunction with the Ministerial Conference on Space Applications for Development in Asia and the Pacific at Beijing in September 1994 and its follow-up programme planning activities. The Meeting considered that integration of the activities of the minimum common programme with national programmes would be necessary to secure financial support and ensure its relevancy, effectiveness and efficiency.
The Meeting believed that exchange and sharing of information were important for improving efficiency and enhancing effectiveness of the work of the Regional Working Group. It considered that one useful way to exchange information between members and publicize the work of the RWG was by setting up a homepage. The Meeting noted that several countries had already set up or were in the process of setting up homepages on their remote sensing/GIS/GPS activities. The Meeting also noted with appreciation that the Coordination Office was preparing to set up a Website for the Regional Working Group. The meeting encouraged all the national contact points to explore the possibility of using such a technology.
The Meeting noted that, at the national level, progress had been highly encouraging, ranging from institutional restructuring to the development of policies and formulation of programmes and to implementation of projects. Many countries had started to further spread remote sensing/GIS activities from the central government level to the provincial level and even to the community level. Some countries had established national working groups corresponding with the four regional working groups of RESAP to ensure more successful implementation of the Regional Strategy and Action Plan at the national level. The Meeting also observed that more application-oriented and practical pilot projects had been carried out and many measurable results had been achieved. It also noted that several bilateral and sub-regional cooperation arrangements were being developed to promote the use of advanced satellite remote sensing data, including microwave remote sensing data.
The Meeting emphasized that a number of issues needed to be continually addressed through a cohesive regional approach. The most critical issues included human resource development, data policies for promoting wider use of remote sensing and adequate funding support for R&D activities. In that connection, it was suggested that a trust fund or a special financing mechanism be established by ESCAP to assist some of the least developed, land-locked and small island countries in participating in the regional network activities.
The Meeting expressed its appreciation to all donors, including Australia, France, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and UNDP for their generous support to the operational activities initiated under RESAP. The Meeting held a strong view that any discontinuity in the support to the regional cooperative activities in the field of remote sensing and related spatial information technology applications would not only jeopardize the network mechanism set up by ESCAP and UNDP in its intercountry programme ICP-5, but also create a negative impact on deriving benefits from operational activities in regional cooperation on remote sensing and GIS. It therefore urged UNDP to continue its financial support to integrated applications of remote sensing, GIS and satellite-based positioning for the environment and suitable development in ICP-6. It also recommended all donors interested in the region to continue their support to RESAP.
The Meeting reviewed the needs and priorities and existing capabilities of the participating countries and formulated a medium-term plan and strategy for its work. The medium-term plan emphasized the common minimum programme approach focusing on integrated applications of remote sensing, GIS and satellite-based positioning in six themes: forest resources monitoring, desertification mapping, coastal zone management, urban and regional planning, spatial information infrastructure development and applications and crop production forecasting.
The Meeting decided to establish six technical teams to study the issues and develop a detailed project profile and implementation strategy for each of the six prioritized themes. It was agreed that each of the team leaders, with the support of the volunteering team members would complete the work and submit the final proposal to the Coordination Office by mid- November 1997 with a copy to the ESCAP secretariat. Both were required to assist in soliciting funding support.
The Meeting reviewed the terms of reference of the Regional Working Group in accordance with the recommendations of ICC made at its last session, held at Kuala Lumpur in June 1996, which specified the relationship between national focal points and national contact points and the duration for hosting the Regional Coordination Office.
The Meeting recommended that a homepage be set up by the Coordination Office to publicize the activities of the Regional Working Group as soon as possible and the Coordinator to include the progress in the implementation in its report to the next meeting, to be held in May 1998 in Manila. Members, especially those who already had their own homepages, were requested to contribute to this initiative.
The Meeting recommended that the ESCAP secretariat also include the report on the progress on the development of the Earth Space Information Network for Asia and the Pacific at the next meeting of the Regional Working Group.
The Meeting agreed that the following six technical teams be established, with voluntary participation of interested members:
(a) Forest resources monitoring -- to be led by Nepal in cooperation with members from Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan and the Republic of Korea, as well as CEOS and FAO;
(b) Coastal zone management -- to be led by the Philippines in cooperation with members from Bangladesh, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Myanmar, Vanuatu and Viet Nam;
(c) Desertification monitoring -- to be led by the Islamic Republic of Iran in cooperation with members from China, India, Japan, Mongolia and Pakistan;
(d) Urban and regional development planning -- to be led by India in cooperation with members from Malaysia, Mongolia, Thailand and Viet Nam;
(e) Spatial information infrastructure development and applications -- to be led by Malaysia in cooperation with members from Australia, Azerbaijan, China, India, Japan, the Philippines and the Republic of Korea;
(f) Crop production forecasting -- to be led by Indonesia in cooperation with Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and Viet Nam.
The Meeting recommended that actions be taken by the team leaders in close cooperation with the concerned members according to the agreed schedule, and that the team leaders submit the final project profile detailing objectives, justification, outputs, implementing strategy and cost estimation to the Coordination Office with a copy to the ESCAP secretariat by mid-November 1997.
The Meeting also recommended that in developing the project profiles, the team leaders and all the members should have close consultation with concerned line ministries/agencies in their respective countries to obtain necessary input and avoid unnecessary duplication.
The Meeting requested that all concerned parties, including particularly the team leaders, to report their work at the next meeting of the Regional Working Group, scheduled for May 1998 in Manila.
| Return to STAS homepage |
| ESCAP homepage |