Technical Committee Meeting of the Open Geospatial Consortium hosted by the Jacobs University.

The aim of the congress is to enhance environmental processes by means of fostering the discussion and interchange of challenges, solutions, ideas, new methods and techniques, and future research lines in environmental modelling & software. The congress joins together several interest groups working in different but complementary features and/or scientific fields in Environmental Modelling, Assessment, Decision Making and Information Technologies. This time, the focus will be stressed on Integrating Sciences and Information Technology for Environmental Assessment and Decision Making.

We would like to bring to your attention the following two Thematic Workshops (attached the call for papers/participation) which will run in parallel with the Sessions:
• Creating robust sensor networks- architecture and infrastructure
• Data and sensor networks and environmental modelling

The ORCHESTRA Integrated Project, funded by the European Commission’s 6th Framework Programme, started three years ago with the aim of designing and demonstrating an open service-oriented architecture based on standards, in order to enable interoperability at European level in the environmental risk management sector.

To mark this successful completion, and share these results, we are organising an ORCHESTRA Final Event. We think this event will be of interest for you, and will be pleased to have your participation. The ORCHESTRA Final Event will take place on 27/02/2008 at Atos Origin headquarters in Madrid (Spain).

The objectives of this event are:
• to present ORCHESTRA results through the demonstration of the ORCHESTRA pilots,
• to allow you to experience the ORCHESTRA implementations via demonstration sessions,
• to allow you to network with professionals working on this topic from different angles.

You will find detailed information in the enclosed agenda.

The ORCHESTRA Day took place on 12/12/2007 at Hotel La Palma in Stresa (Italy), within the OGC TC/PC meeting taking place that week and hosted by the European Commission Joint Research Centre.

The objectives of this event were:
• to present ORCHESTRA results, many of which are available openly and free-of-charge,
• to present and discuss key topics of environmental risk management from different perspectives: policy, end users, technology, business or standards,
• to allow you to experience the ORCHESTRA implementations via demonstration sessions,
• and mainly, to allow you to network with professionals working on this topic from different angles.

You will find detailed information in the enclosed agenda and below you can download the presentations.

Workshop presentations:

- Introduction (José Esteban, ATOS)
Policy Block
- DG INFSO FP6 & FP7 (Merce Griera, EC)
- INSPIRE/GMES/GEOSS (Alessandro Annoni, JRC)
Challenges and solutions: IT perspective
- Motivation for an Open Service Architecture (Reiner Güttler, EIG)
- ORCHESTRA Architecture – Behind the Scenes (Thomas Usländer, Fraunhofer IITB)
- Methodology for Creating New Service Types (Anders Friis-Christensen, JRC-IES)
Challenges and solutions: end user perspective
- The ORCHESTRA pilots (ATOS)
- ORCHESTRA for the assessment of road network disruptions (Jean-Jacques Serrano, BRGM)
- ORCHESTRA for coastal zone management (Ian Smith, BMT pilot)
Business Block
- Open Source (Arnulf Christl, OS Geo)
- Geospatial Rights Management (Graham Vowles, Ordnance Survey)
Results transfer & future research topics
- Use of ORCHESTRA by SANY (Denis Havlik, ARC)
- Relevance of ORCHESTRA for DEWS (Tsunami Early Warning System) (Joachim Waechter, GFZ)
- Relevance of ORCHESTRA for HUMBOLDT (Thorsten Reitz, Fraunhofer IGD)
- ORCHESTRA contribution to OGC (Thomas Uslaender, Fraunhofer IITB)
- Data specification in the risk domain (Jean-Jacques Serrano, BRGM)

Technical Committee Meeting of the Open Geospatial Consortium hosted by the EC JRC.

The Second International Conference on GeoSpatial Semantics (GeoS 2007) will be held in Mexico City, November 29-30, 2007 at the Centro de Investigación en Computación. This conference provides an opportunity for prominent specialists, researchers, engineers and practitioners throughout the world to share their latest researches in GeoSpatial Semantics. GeoS 2007 aims at providing a timely forum for the exchange of state-of-the-art research results in the areas of modeling and processing of geospatial semantics. Geospatial semantics play an important role for next-generation spatial databases and geographic information systems, as well as specialized geospatial web services.

The paper "A Rule-based Description Framework for the Composition of Geographic Information Services" based on the work done in the scope of the ORCHESTRA pilot "Pan-European assessment of natural hazards" led by JRC, will be presented at this conference.

Fourth Plenary session of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO-IV) and the GEO Ministerial Summit, hosted by the Republic of South Africa, which will take place in the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) on 28 – 30 November 2007. In parallel to the GEO Plenary Conference, and the GEO Ministerial Summit, there will be an exhibition open to GEO participating delegations, then to the public.

On the occasion of this important event, the European Commission will organise an umbrella booth for all European Projects linked to GEO. This "Europe for GEO" booth will be coordinated by Directorate General Research. It will host projects from Member States, European Organisations, as well as projects supported by Community programmes (e.g. GMES, FP7 projects, etc).

This workshop is the fourth in the series being organised by the Spatial Semantics for Automating Geographic Information Processes Theme at the e-Science Institute in Edinburgh (www.esi.ac.uk) and is supported by the UK e-Science Programme.

Target Audience: Geoscientists and researchers in geospatial semantics and geoinformatics.

Understanding our environment is a prerequisite for reducing the vulnerability of our societies and the risk of natural disasters. Earth observations are crucial for improved knowledge of hazards, risks and potential disasters as a basis for efficient decision making, better mitigation, and preparedness for disasters.
The 3rd International Geohazards Workshop aims to strengthen the emerging international strategy for disaster mitigation and prevention for the benefit of those exposed to geohazards, namely earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, and tsunamis. The workshop is open to all beneficiaries of a coordinated multi-risk strategy: the governmental organisations responsible for civil protection and land use planning, the scientific communities, the geological surveys, the producers and users of Earth Observation.

ORCHESTRA will be represented by BRGM presenting their pilot.

6e Programme-Cadre Européen pour la Recherche et le Développement Technologique.

Dissemination event for internal communications to Ordnance Survey staff.

The 2007 Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) conference gathers developers and users of open source geo-spatial software from around the world to discuss new directions, exciting implementations, and growing business opportunities in the field of open source geo-spatial software. FOSS4G is presented annually by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo).

Focused on the practical “make it work, get it done” world of open source application development, this annual conference boasts a very high concentration of geo-spatial technical opinion leaders. Attendance at this event has grown at over 50% a year since its inception in 2003, paralleling the rapid growth and adoption curve of open source geo-spatial tools in the marketplace.

ORCHESTRA will be presented at the Seventh IIASA-DPRI Forum on Integrated Disaster Risk Management that will take place September 19-21, 2007 in Stresa on the Lake Maggiore, Italy. The Forum is being co-organized by:
• the Institute for Protection and Security of the Citizen (IPSC) of the Joint Research Centre, a Directorate-General of the European Commission,
• the Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI) of Kyoto University
• and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).

The choice of this year's theme – Coping with Disasters: Global Challenges for the 21st Century and Beyond – was motivated by the urgent need to think beyond the short-term disaster management goals to the challenges that lay ahead in an ever increasingly populated, urbanized, and complex world.

Technical Committee Meeting of the Open Geospatial Consortium.

The OGC Technical Committee is comprised of the technical representatives of all OGC member organizations and is charged with creating OpenGIS Specifications and maintaining the OGC Abstract Specification. Open to OGC members, non-members can request permission to attend.

21st conference of the Environmental Informatics and Systems Research on Informatics for Environmental Protection.

Since 1986, the EnviroInfo conference series of the German Informatics Society (GI) extended into the European event which provides communication platform for leading experts in sustainability and environmental protection. It gives a possibility for scientists, public administrations, governmental and non-governmental bodies and organizations, enterprises and companies to exchange and deepen their knowledge on environmental informatics. In 2007 the conference will be held in Warsaw, the capital of Poland.

Several contributions from ORCHESTRA have been submitted, like the papers on "Source System Integration using the Framework for ORCHESTRA Services" and "Framework for the Development of Environmental Risk Management Services according to the ORCHESTRA Architecture".

This year's event will be held at the University of Portsmouth between the 3rd and the 6th of September 2007. The Society aims to provide delegates with a stimulating and enjoyable summer school including sessions, workshops, visits and social events. It is an ideal opportunity for all those in the cartographic community to meet and exchange ideas and developments in the world of mapping.

A full lecture programme has been planned, with sessions on cartographic design, maritime mapping, military mapping, GIS mapping, mapping the environment and open mapping. Sessions 8 and 9 on Wednesday 5th will include a range of demonstrations and workshops.

Since 1928 the Cambridge Conference has provided a platform for the heads of national mapping organisations to discuss matters of mutual interest face to face.

The unique event is organised by Great Britain's national mapping agency, Ordnance Survey, and takes place every four years in the historic surrounding of St John's College, Cambridge.

Technical Committee Meeting of the Open Geospatial Consortium.

The OGC Technical Committee is comprised of the technical representatives of all OGC member organizations and is charged with creating OpenGIS Specifications and maintaining the OGC Abstract Specification. Open to OGC members, non-members can request permission to attend.

Over the last few years, the EC GI & GIS Workshop has focused on the development of a European Spatial Data Infrastructure (ESDI). With the agreement on the text of the INSPIRE directive the focus of this year's workshop is on contribution of SDIs on environmental analyses and modelling.

The Workshop will be organised through a series of plenary sessions addressing common policy issues, and parallel sessions focusing in particular on applications / implementations of SDIs, and research issues.

Olivier Bouc (BRGM) presents ORCHESTRA and BRGM pilot at this day in Marseille on 29th June in a JOURNEE TECHNIQUE organised by the portail géomatique de Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur: "Vers une culture des données géographiques partagées sur les risques majeurs en PACA".

"ICT in Civil Protection" is a European Project implemented in the framework of the Community Action Programme in the field of Civil Protection. The aim of the project is to organise a European Workshop to exchange knowledge, good practices and experiences regarding the use of new ICT applied to risk assessment and risk management. The objective is both to valorise existing experiences and good practices "scattered" across Europe as well as to increase the knowledge and competencies of civil protection experts by raising their awareness on the benefits brought by the use of new ICT.

The workshop aims to bring together experts and professionals in the civil protection field, in order to share knowledge, experiences and good practices at European level as well as it aims to valorise different experiences and innovative methods already tested and tried out at local and regional level, by validating and disseminating them at European level. Invitees to the Workshop include Representatives from the European Commission, DGs Environment, Research and Regional Policy, as well as local and regional Representatives, R&D Organisations, universities, companies and other stakeholders with an interest in ICT and Civil Protection.

TIEMS has a long history in organizing conferences and workshops in the field of Emergency Management.

TIEMS has identified a series of topics for which participants are invited to submit contributions: Information Decision support, GIS in Emergency Management, Terrorism and Security, Critical Infrastructures, Emergencies and the media, Psychological aspects of disasters, Health Emergencies & Response, Training and Education, Business Continuity, Risk Assessment Professional Practice, Information & communication technologies and Environmental protection / Climate change.

The awareness of the risks inherent to an uncontrolled development of human activities has led to environmental protocols, to the setup of new partnerships, such as the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) and the European GMES initiative (Global Monitoring of Environment and Security), and the need to develop synergies between existing capacities internationally. GMES has already gathered substantial momentum through the actions of the European Union and European Space Agencies and through the wide ranging participation of European industry.

The objectives of the workshop are:
• First: to bring together experts from the two sides to increase mutual knowledge of their communities
• Second: to assess the above-mentioned trends in new applications
• Third: to explore the mechanisms of synergy between in-situ and RS and to evaluate its impact
• Fourth: to identify technical and non technical obstacles to the uptake of the proposed solutions

Joint CIG/ISPRS Conference on Geomatics for Disaster and Risk Management.

The fundamental goal of this conference is to use the latest state-of-the-art space-based geomatics technologies to understand the dynamic Earth processes and geo-hazards. This will be accomplished through the uses geoinformation for risk reduction, mitigation, monitoring and response to disasters, including
• Geomatics technologies and advances
• Geospatial information
• Geodesy and Earth processes.

ISESS, the International Symposium on Environmental Software Systems, was initiated in 1995 as a forum in which to present and discuss the fundamentals, progress and actual trends in this area in terms of methods, tools and state-of-the-art applications. Over the years, it has also evolved into an important networking tool for academics, environmental professionals, and other interested parties.

Several contributions from ORCHESTRA have been submitted, like the papers on "Risk assessment for the road network in the French-Italian border region using web services", "Application of Semantic Services in ORCHESTRA" and "Meta-information - A basic instrument in developing an Open Architecture and Spatial Data Infrastructure for Risk Management" (link to the abstract below) addressing the topic of Next Generation of Environmental Information and Risk Management Systems.

A series of International Wildland Fire Conferences was initiated in the late 1980s aimed at bringing together both the technical members of the fire community and the authorities concerned with policy and national practices in wildland fire management to realise their common interests of wildland fire risk management and disaster reduction at local, national, regional and global scales.

In the International Wildland Fire Summit, held in Sydney, Australia, on 8 October 2003, the invitation presented by the representatives of Spain to organize and host the 4th International Wildland Fire Conference in 2007, was accepted.

ORCHESTRA has been invited to present the project, and its application to forest fires, in the European Research Session, organised by Domingos Xavier Viegas, that will take place during the morning of the first day (May 13th). Presentation will be made by David Caballero (TYPSA) on behalf of the consortium.

4th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management.

The conference brings together designers, developers and users of Information Systems that support those involved in crisis-related activities such as:
• Planning for the response to a crisis situation;
• Training for crisis, including organizing of crisis exercises;
• Responding to a crisis situation; and
• Evaluating the performance during and after the crisis.

Technical Committee Meeting of the Open Geospatial Consortium sponsored by GeoConnections Canada and ESRI Canada.

The EGU General Assembly will bring together geoscientists from all over Europe and the rest of the world into one meeting covering all disciplines of the Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences. Especially for young scientists the EGU appeals to provide a forum to present their work and discuss their ideas with experts in all fields of geosciences.

In cooperation with eGY (Electronic Geophysical Year - as a partner of International year of Planet Earth), it will be organized a special session on interoperability and data management in the area of natural hazards.

Abstract EGU2007-A-08557 entitled "ORCHESTRA a Unified Open Architecture for Risk Management Applications" has been accepted and scheduled for an oral presentation in session NH12, on Tuesday, April 17th.

"An Information space where environmental institutions and services providers, irrespective of size or location, can do business or simply collaborate with no technical restraints".

The Information Society and Media Directorate General (DG INFSO) is organising in co-operation with the European Space Agency ESA a workshop called "Architecture supporting an Integrated Information Space for the environment in Europe". The workshop will take place at ESA premises in Frascati (IT) on 3 April 2007. Part of the commitment of DG INFSO to the GMES action plan was to contribute through research and technological development projects to the deployment of the GMES Shared Information Space.

Objectives of the workshop
1. to present the results of the projects working on service and data architecture (including ORCHESTRA)
2. to demonstrate the capacity of the newly developed architectures to collaborate with existing platforms such as ESA SSE
3. to identify and prioritize gaps in the current technical solutions
4. to identify non technical obstacles to the large scale deployment of new interoperable solutions in view of the future call for proposal

A "GEO-related" Information Day will be organised by DG RTD in Brussels on 15 January 2007. The main focus will be on FP7 opportunities for Earth Observation research activity under Theme 6 "Environment". Some Earth Observation related activities supervised by other Commission services, including DG INFSO, will also be presented (e.g. GMES, Support to Research Infrastructure, ICT for the Environment and INSPIRE).

Technical Committee Meeting of the Open Geospatial Consortium hosted by BAE Systems.

Around 300 proposals were received by the time the Call for Proposals for Networking Sessions and Workshops closed. Now website visitors can express an opinion on them. In particular, the networking sessions relevant to ICT for the Environment are "Sensor data fusion", "ICT for Environmental Management and Energy Efficiency in FP7", "Disaster, Risk and Emergency Management in Europe" and "Public Safety Communication Forum".

21 Nov
Networking Sessions
14.00 - 15.30 Sensor Data Fusion

22 Nov
FP7 Sessions
11:00 - 12:30 ICT for Environmental Management and Energy Efficiency
Networking Sessions
14.00 - 15.30 Innovation & Political Leadership in Emergency & Crisis Management
16.00 - 17.30 European Public Safety Communications Stakeholders Forum

23 Nov
Networking Sessions
11.00 - 12.30 Disaster, Risk & Emergency Management in Europe

Workshop presentations:
- ORCHESTRA Project. Presented by Jose Esteban Lauzan - Atos Origin Spain
- WIN. Presented by Christian Alegre - Alcatel Alenia Space
- SANY. Presented by Gerald Schimack - ARCS
- PREVIEW. Presented by Marco Manca - Telespazio
- RISE. Presented by Jörgen Hartnor - Lantmäteriet
- LIMES. Presented by José Prieto - GMV
- MEDIGRID. Presented by George Effichtidis. Algosystems
- U-2010. Presented by Latif Ladid - IPv6 Forum Chairman
- OSIRIS. Presented by Gilles Morel. French Ministry of Transport

IST 2006 includes a high-level conference, an exhibition of cutting edge research results from across Europe and a programme of networking sessions and workshops. Three strands, but one overriding aim: to help achieving Europe's innovative potential in developing and rolling out Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

This year's edition of the most important European event in the field of Information Society Technologies will coincide with the launch of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Development.

National Conference of the Italian Federation of Scientific Associations for Territorial and Environmental Information with following thematic: Theory and concepts of temporal/spatial data, use and dissemination of geographic information, Geographic systems for the environment and territory and Thematic GIS systems

International Semantic Web Conference ISWC'06 Workshop. Directions to the Geospatial Semantic Web in conjunction with the Fifth International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC 2006)

ISWC is a major international forum where visionary and state-of-the-art research of all aspects of the Semantic Web are presented.

This is the sixteenth in a series of Annual Conferences supported by the European Commission, which regularly attracts over 550 delegates from leading commercial, government and research organisations around the world to share knowledge and experience, lessons learnt and good practice.

The goals of e-2006 are to stimulate take-up of applied ICT research results by industry - in particular SMEs - and the European public sector, to promote knowledge sharing between industry, government and the research community, to exchange experiences about the current state of eAdoption at a sectoral, national or regional level, support International Cooperation and open up the European Research Area (ERA) to the rest of the world.

Second International Symposium on Geo-information for Disaster Management. The fundamental goal of this symposium is to discuss the geo-information integration for disaster management considering Technology applicable for disaster management, User requirements for geo-information (users at all levels), Information providers (data, standards and related legislation).

A project support coordination meeting in the frame of the GMES Emergency Support Core Service (INSCRIT) will be held on 25-Sep-2006 in Brussels.

The main objective of the meeting will be to establish an action plan and working groups for the support to the Service with emphasis on the short-term, i.e. last quarter 2006 and the preparation of version 1 of the Terms of Reference for the Emergency Response Core Service.

Thematic Conference of the Italian AM-FM2006 Association (Automated Mapping Facilities Management) on Geographic Information: Data Harmonisation, Interoperability and Standars, Facilities Management and Ubiquitous GIS.

GIScience 2006 will bring together scientists from academia, industry, and government to analyze progress and to explore new research directions. It will focus on emerging topics and basic research findings across all sectors of geographic information science.

Ordnance Survey is delighted to host Terra future 2006, an event that explores the impact of emerging trends on information businesses and the future of location information for business, government and academia.

FOSS4G2006 is a four day conference, bringing together all the Free and Open Source Software for Geoinformatics (FOSS4G) communities. The conference focuses on an array of open source technologies and presents how they are being used around the world. Seminars and workshops will share the theme of advancing open source GIS technology, by covering management and technical aspects as well as the latest trends.

People interested in remote sensing and its integration with GIS, should check the 'Call for Papers' for the '6th SPIE Conference on Remote Sensing for Environmental Monitoring, GIS Applications, and Geology' to be held in Stockholm from September 11-16.

Addressing this transition to a knowledge-based economy, the 20th International Conference on Informatics for Environmental Protection (EnviroInfo '06) focuses on the role of knowledge management in advocating sustainability and environmental protection. The conference investigates new ways of optimizing organizational workflows, building communities, engaging groups in participatory decisions, and supporting education and advocacy campaigns.

The European Association of Earthquake Engineering (EAEE) and the European Seismological Com-mission (ESC) have long traditions of periodic conferences. In 2006, the EAEE and the ESC will join the 13th ECEE and the 30th ESC General Assembly to hold in common the First European Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology. BRGM, JRC and OS intend to give a presentation on their ORCHESTRA pilot at the special session on 'Geoinformation Technologies Oriented to Seismic Hazard and Seismic Risk Assessment'.

International Conference on GIS and Sustainable Development. The Thematic Scope of InterCarto-InterGIS 12 includes in relation with Orchestra topics on disaster management (awareness, preparedness, situation modeling, action support and knowledge mining).

Emerging trends from risk management confirm the perception of the general public: the world we live in today is more complex, less certain, and more interdependent than any time before in history.

These messages have been highlighted at the World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction held in Kobe, Japan in January 2005 (WCDR 2005).

The International Disaster Reduction Conference IDRC Davos 2006, to be held from August 27 to September 1, will push forward the vision of WCDR 2005 and will deepen the understanding of what is needed to mainstream and integrate risk management across fields.

An International Symposium for Environmental Software Systems (ISESS) stream will take place during the iEMSs 2006 conference. This session will showcase the international efforts of ISESS to incorporate advanced software technologies into environmental problem-solving.

GI4Dev is one thematic focus of the annual AGIT Conference. Every year the AGIT attracts more than 1000 participants from all fields within Applied Geoinformatics. It is the largest applied GIS event in the German speaking world. gi4dev overlaps with AGIT-EXPO, an extensive exhibition of vendors in the fields of GIS and Remote Sensing. Contrary to classic conference scenarios, this event will focus on result-oriented discussions by using moderation methodologies. Conclusions and recommendations will be evaluated in a final panel discussion.

The 'Interoperability Day' event is being held in association with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) meeting hosted by EDINA National Datacentre. This event will of be of interest to both those who plan and those who implement systems which involve sharing and using Geographic Information across the internet.

EDINA welcomes the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and its members to Edinburgh, Scotland, where the OGC Technical and Planning Committee Meetings will be held between 26th and 30th June 2006, together with an Interoperability Day on Friday 30th. This will be the only OGC meeting taking place in Europe this year and ORCHESTRA will be present either through the GeoDRM or RCM WGs.

Over the last few years, the EC GI & GIS Workshop has focused on the development of a European Spatial Data Infrastructure (ESDI). Objectives of this year's workshop are to review the current state of progress of the draft INSPIRE legislation and it will offer an opportunity to the INSPIRE Drafting Teams to report on the development of the INSPIRE Implementing Rules.

In this conference, panels are expected to explore innovative ways of exploiting the latest eTechnologies and development approaches and to suggest new research agendas.

e-Management impact on disaster risk reduction The multitude of hazards facing modern societies combined highly differing vulnerability of the population and the economy makes the mitigation of their impact a very difficult and complex task. ICT has the capacity to deal with this complexity but it requires a radical change in the way we manage disasters.

German workshop on environmental data bases organised by the thematic group 4.6.1 "informatics for environmental protection" of the Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V.

GEONETCast is a concept by which environmental satellite and in situ data and products from participating data providers within Global Earth Observation (GEO) could be transmitted to all users through a global network of communications satellites, using a multicast access controlled broadband capability.

Projects are required to present their data dissemination needs that could be implemented through GEONETCast/EUMETCast.

The Association of Geographic Information Laboratories of Europe (AGILE) groups more than 80 research organisations from 23 different European countries. During its 9 years of existence, the organisation has celebrated this international conference with great success in several locations in Europe. It has become a well established event and is seen as one of the main mechanisms for promoting research on GI Science in Europe and beyond.

The conference should attract the interest of Governments, Parliaments, International Organizations, practitioners, experts in early warning and disaster risk, and the scientific community. It follows the (WCDR) in Kobe, Japan in January 2005, and will focus on the promotion of selected practical early warning projects. The UN Secretary General has called for warning systems to cover all countries and all hazards. The subtitle of EWC III is reflecting implementation of the agreed in World Conference on Disaster Reduction "From Concept to Action" Hyogo Framework for Action.

Geneva UNOSAT and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) will jointly host the 3rd UN-wide meeting on the United Nations and International Charter Space and Major Disasters to take place in Geneva on 20 March 2006. The morning half of the meeting will be a closed UN meeting for all UN agencies and departments. The afternoon half will include a representative from the Charter and specially invited institutions and organizations relevant to the meeting objectives.

i.convienna 2006 is a unique international congress for information and consulting in Europe.

Event to promote the European Commission Initiative INSPIRE and inform about the different insititutions that in the context of INSPIRE have developed Spatial Data Infrastructures in Spain