Australia

Colleagues,

On behalf of the Australian Earth observation community, it is a pleasure to provide our national update for GEO Week 2022. The past couple of years have been challenging for all of us, so it is pleasing to see how the global GEO Community has continued our critical work to deliver on Earth Observation (EO) advancements.

Australia is pleased to see the progress of the Post-2025 Working Group to consider GEO’s unique role and future value proposition. A clear understanding of these will enable us to design a Strategic Plan that positions GEO for success.

The global EO landscape has changed significantly since GEO was established. We have moved from a situation where most observatories were controlled by governments, where governments were expected to fund the majority of EO activities, and where governments were the main users of observational data - to a much richer and more diverse landscape. It is critical that we embrace this diversity, as it brings with it new data, new ideas, new investment and new opportunities to reach beneficiaries and stakeholders. Fortunately, GEO is well placed to thrive in this world if it leans into its strengths: its flexibility, openness, agility and clear focus on delivering impact.

We believe that a post-2025 GEO should adopt governance structures and operating models that work as enablers of new partnerships, with possible participants able to benefit from collaborating through GEO without being deterred by the control or bureaucracy of its processes. To support this evolution, GEO must continue its efforts to be more inclusive of the private sector, NGOs and other stakeholders in every area, including its governance and decision-making processes. This may require some uncomfortable discussions, but we should be courageous enough to confront these topics head on.

In late 2021, the Australian Space Agency released its Earth Observation from Space Roadmap, which outlined plans for development of Australia’s civil space EO sector up to 2030. The Roadmap is a collaborative venture across Australian government, industry and research organisations, with international EO partnership and leadership as one of its focal areas. As the Australian space sector develops greater capacity and capability, it will bring with it significant benefits to GEO through access to new data, opportunities and growth.

Australia, and many other countries, participated in the Asia-Oceania Group on Earth Observations (AOGEO) 15^th Symposium, and recognises that AOGEO has an important role to play in engaging national and intergovernmental agencies, users and potential users of EO, identifying regional needs that might benefit from EO applications and in promoting communication and collaboration.

I would also like to highlight the support that we have provided to our international EO community through the adoption and uptake of the open-source Open Data Cube, underpinned by Analysis Ready Data from CEOS, NASA and member space agencies. This has enabled the development of climate smart innovation and fostered collaborations and networking between individuals and businesses across the Australian and South-East Asian geospatial industries.

Recently, we have had success in the uptake of Digital Earth Australia products into previously uncharted industries. The Australian insurance industry has included DEA Coastlines as a fundamental data source for determining property risk in coastal regions. DEA Coastlines have also been included as part of the CEOS COAST initiative, where Australia has assisted NOAA to implement the DEA Coastlines workflow to support projects in the Chesapeake Bay region of the East coast of the US. We would also like to recognise the significant role that EO data has had in monitoring, informing and evaluating environmental assessments for the Australian State of the Environment Reports.

In July of this year, Australia was delighted to hand over the Digital Earth Africa program management to the South African National Space Agency, making the program fully African owned and run. Digital Earth Africa is now empowering decision-makers across Africa to better manage natural resources, report on Sustainable Development Goals and take action on climate change.

Some of the great successes include grassroots climate action through mangrove conservation in Tanzania, high-level government decision-making on unregulated mining in Ghana, giraffe conservation efforts in Kenya, and Okavango Delta water management in Botswana.

We are pleased to see continued progress in accelerating GEO efforts to engage with the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs), in convening the Pacific Islands Advisory Group (PIAG) to identify strategies to bring GEO and the Pacific closer together, and to support the implementation of elements of the Canberra Declaration for Small Island Developing States.

Australia remains a proud member of GEO. We believe that GEO is unique in its ability to bring people together to harness the power of Earth observation to make our Earth a better place, and we look forward to continuing our support.

Maree Wilson

Principal Representative to the Group on Earth Observations Australian Government