Environment and Natural Resources Management Space Technology Applications Section

The second meeting of the Regional Working Group on Space Sciences and Technology Applications was held at Singapore from 19 to 22 February 1997. The meeting was organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Singapore. It was jointly hosted by National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University.

1. Opening of the meeting.
2. Election of officers.
3. Adoption of the agenda.
4. Report of the Coordinator of the Regional Working Group on Space Sciences and Technology Applications on the work of the Group, and review of the modus operandi of the Group.
5. 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, in reference to the area of space sciences and technology applications, in the light of the recommendations of the Regional Working Group on Space Sciences and Technology Applications, at its first meeting.
   1. Regional report by the ESCAP secretariat;
   2. Progress reports by the national contact points.
6. Ways of implementing the Regional Space Applications Programme for Sustainable Development, with special reference to the area of space sciences and technology applications, and of realizing the objectives of the Regional Working Group on Space Sciences and Technology Applications.
7. Theme topic: "Small satellite technology and data applications in Asia and the Pacific".
8. Medium-term plan of the Regional Working Group on Space Sciences and
9. Technology Applications.
10. Tentative work plan concerning space sciences and technology applications under RESAP for 1997-1998.
11. Other matters.
12. Adoption of the report.

The Regional Working Group on Space Sciences and Technology Applications considered that the progress in the implementation of the Regional Space Applications Programme for Sustainable Development (RESAP) in the field of space sciences and technology applications was satisfactory and that the work by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) secretariat in this field was commendable.

The Regional Working Group had made headway towards operational functioning through the satisfactory work undertaken by the Coordinating Office established at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in May 1996. The contribution of the Coordinating Office towards the operational work of the Regional Working Group was also commended.

The Meeting considered that the modus operandi established for the Working Group was practical and successful. In particular, the meeting considered that:

1. The annual meeting of the members of the Regional Working Group was an indispensable forum for the national contact points (NCPs) to interact with each other, to exchange information, to review activities, to formulate cooperative plans, and to develop strategies for implementation of its work plan.
2. The substantive support of the coordinating office was essential for the successful operation of the Working Group. The bold, innovative and dynamic leadership of the coordinator was also essential for the success of the Working Group.
3. More frequent and direct interactions between the coordinating office and the NCPs of the Working Group were also important and needed to be further strengthened, in order to solicit substantive support to implement its activities.

The Meeting recognized that the sustainability of the Regional Working Group activities was of paramount importance. The Meeting was informed by the secretariat that the member countries should be prepared to provide full support to the participation of their NCPs in future annual meetings of the Regional Working Group with their own funding sources.

The Meeting also recognized that for operational cooperative activities initiated under the Regional Working Group, technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC) should be a major approach to be adopted as its implementing strategy.

The Meeting was encouraged to note that there was substantial progress achieved at the national level since the last Regional Working Group meeting. This progress included space policy formulation, national institutional building, national programme formulation, and substantive technical achievements in implementing R&D programmes in space sciences and technology applications areas.

The Meeting was pleased to note that most of the participating countries had, following the last meeting, officially nominated their NCPs for this Regional Working Group and that the NCPs had started to discharge their responsibilities as stipulated in the terms of reference of the Working Group. The Meeting stressed that to continue successful work of the Regional Working Group under the aegis of RESAP, a number of prerequisites for such success still needed to be reiterated and emphasized. These included:

1. Political awareness and commitment of policy makers and planners at the national level;
2. Enhanced national coordinating mechanisms to prevent sectorial fragmentation and duplication;
3. Appropriate institutional arrangements for implementing programmes;
4. Integrating space science and technology application programmes into development planning with adequate funding support.

The Meeting assessed the current situation in space sciences and technology applications and observed that the lack of human resources for the space sciences and technology applications sector would continue to be a major barrier in most developing countries and, therefore, believed that human resource development needed to be assigned high priority.

The Meeting recognized that the network approach was an efficient means for, and of special relevance to, regional cooperation in the field of space sciences and technology applications. It, therefore, required further concrete arrangements at both the national and regional level to improve and enhance the existing network mechanism.

The Meeting agreed that an action-oriented and result-driven approach be adopted with regard to the future functioning of the Regional Working Group. Any cooperative activities proposed by the Working Group should be practical and realistic, leading to measurable outputs.

In that connection, the Meeting decided to develop a medium-term plan taking into consideration the needs and aspirations of the participating countries as well as the available human resources and current financial constraints. The Meeting considered that while wide participation in regional cooperative activities by interested members should be welcomed, cooperation in areas of particular interest among sub-groups of member countries should also be encouraged.

The Meeting emphasized that the following activities be given priority considerations in formulating the medium-term plan: information exchange, academic exchange, training and scholarships, pilot projects, joint research and studies.

The Meeting, accordingly, adopted the framework for the medium-term plan of the Regional Working Group on Space Sciences and Technology Applications.

The Meeting also revised its terms of reference as requested by the Intergovernmental Consultative Committee (ICC) on RESAP at its second session held at Kuala Lumpur in June 1996.

The Meeting recommended the following five areas for cooperation under this Regional Working Group as substantiated actions of the medium-term plan, and it recommended necessary task forces and a study team be established for the implementation of these recommendations:

1. Task force one: Joint development of common simple payload for small satellites
   The following countries expressed their interest in participating in and contributing to the work of this task force at their own cost: China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Thailand.
   The Meeting agreed that the Republic of Korea act as the leader of this task force.

2. Task force two: Applications and sharing of small satellite data
   The following countries expressed their interest in participating in and contributing to the work of this task force at their own cost: Bangladesh, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
   The Meeting agreed that Indonesia act as the leader of this task force.

3. Task force three: Low-cost ground receiving stations for small satellites
   The following countries expressed their interest in participating in and contributing to the work of this task force at their own cost: Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
   The Meeting agreed that Singapore act as the leader of this task force.

4. Task force four: Development of electronic media for exchange of scientific information on space sciences and technologies
   The following countries expressed their interest in participating in and contributing to the work of this task force at their own cost: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
   The Meeting agreed that Thailand act as the leader of this task force.

5. Study Team: Study of the needs and possibility for a joint regional small satellite programme in the long run
   The following countries expressed their interest in participating in and contributing to the work of this study team at their own cost: China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Thailand
   The Meeting agreed that India acts as the leader of this study team.

The Meeting requested the following actions be taken immediately by the leader of each of the task forces and the study team:

1. To prepare the terms of reference and define the detailed tasks of the task forces/study team;
2. To form a technical team consisting of nominees from the participating countries;
3. To prepare a detailed work plan, including schedules, and to assign the tasks to individual team members, who would conduct the study and prepare inputs for the report;
4. To consolidate a draft technical report with inputs from the team members. Technical consultation meetings among the team members may be called when it is deemed necessary;
5. To submit the report to the coordinating office for necessary follow-up actions by the coordinator;