Fourth United Nations international UN-SPIDER Bonn workshop on disaster management and space technology

'The 4C – Challenge: Communication – Coordination – Cooperation – Capacity Development' Introduction/ Background

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), through its UN-SPIDER Programme (United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response) together with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are organising the above mentioned workshop to promote the access and use of space-based technologies and solutions for disaster management and emergency response within relevant communities.

In its resolution 61/110 of 14 December 2006 the United Nations General Assembly agreed to establish the “United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response – UN-SPIDER”, as a programme of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, to provide universal access to all countries and all relevant international and regional organizations to all types of space-based information and services relevant to disaster management.

As part of the UN-SPIDER outreach activities, workshops are being organized in 2010 to raise awareness within the user community of the benefits of using space-based information and solutions, to assess its needs and to contribute to specific activities of the programme. Specifically, this Fourth International Workshop in Bonn will provide an opportunity to bring together decision-makers and experts from both the space technology and disaster management communities, international scientific organizations, knowledge transfer and educational institutions, as well as internationally active private companies, with the intention of sharing their best practices and to bring their knowledge, products and technologies for risk and disaster management, humanitarian aid and emergency response.

More information on the outcome of the previous workshops in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the respective presentations made during the workshops are available at http://www.un-spider.org.

Workshop Topics

Main topics of the fourth workshop will include:

1. Space technology in support of risk and disaster management: relevant space-based solutions and information for risk and disaster management support and emergency response including on-going and planned initiatives, case studies and best practices, available geospatial data for disaster studies and capacity building opportunities.

2. Satellite communications technology: presentations and discussions on satellite communications services, namely satellite phones, VSAT's, BGAN's by the service providers and technology developers for the use of emergency telecommunications.

3. International support mechanisms and SpaceAid: discussion of the strengthening of the international coordination with regard to access to existing mechanisms that provide space–based information to support emergency response such as the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, GMES/SAFER, Sentinel Asia, SERVIR and the UN-SPIDER SpaceAid Framework. Specific presentations on the work carried out to support the response efforts for the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile will also be included under this theme. Participants will be invited to discuss and provide feedback on the utility and timeliness of space-based support for the response and recovery efforts following recent mega-disasters, including direct and fast availability of satellite data and services to the responding organizations, and to provide feedback for improving such support. Key providers and users of space-based data are invited to make contributions to this discussion, helping evaluate the present state and making suggestions for better future response efforts.

4. The UN-SPIDER network: presentations regarding the UN-SPIDER National Focal Points (NFP), the UN-SPIDER Regional Support Offices (RSO), the Global Thematic Partnership in strong collaboration with UNISDR and existing Communities of Practice (CoP) will demonstrate the dynamically growing international network of the UN-SPIDER programme and the role of its backbone operational platform – the UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal.

As a general framework, the workshop will contribute to the coordination of the various initiatives that are contributing to helping developing countries access and use space-based technologies for disaster management and risk reduction as well as to explore possibilities of capacity development and institutional strengthening.