k law & policy
Barbara J. Ryan Secretariat Director Group on Earth Observations (GEO)
The economic value of EO data is in its utility
W Models, analysis tools, information products and services, all add value to EO data and it is usually these value-added products and services that environmental managers, public policy officials and ultimately ministers recognise and need
JANUARY 2013
hether it is remotely sensed, in-situ, oceanbased, or surface-based, earth observation (EO) data is essential for making informed public policy decisions in many areas involving societal benefits like climate variability and change, energy management, agriculture, biodiversity, human health and epidemiology, weather forecasting and water management. Data, in and of itself, is of little value unless it is used. Models, analysis tools, information products and services, all add value to EO data and it is usually these value-added products and services that environmental managers, public policy officials and ultimately ministers recognise and need. While many existing EO systems in the world were primarily designed for a single purpose, it is both beneficial and cost effective if these systems can be multi-purposed. A public infrastructure like the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) is helping connect a diverse and growing array of earth observation and information systems for monitoring and forecasting changes in the global environment particularly in the nine Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs) shown in Figure 1.