World Summit on the Informati...( d facilitate the delivery of humanitari...),Health

ESA is aware of the danger of the 'digital divide' and tries to ensure that satellite data is available to all who need it. "GMES" reports Aschbacher, "is the major European contribution to coordinated global observation systems that will encompass observations from space, ground, air and the oceans. The aim is to make this data easily available to all, including those who are at a less advanced stage in the information revolution".

Space and the information society

ESA used the opportunity of the Summit and the associated conferences to bring three of its many projects to the attention of participants.

The projects singled out on this occasion were:

the International Charter of Space and Major Natural Disasters an international charter involving six major space agencies, including ESA, that uses space data and facilities to help organise emergency assistance and/or reconstruction operations Envisat Europe's latest Earth observation satellite, that tracks and monitors the environment, including global climate change World Cultural Heritage ESA carries out a number of activities in support of the UN World Heritage Convention including monitoring national parks, wetlands and architectonic sites, and the habitats of species at risk of extinction such as gorillas. An innovation offered by the Summit was the possibility of presenting these projects electronically through the electronic Science meets the Information Society forum. CERN, the organisers of the RSIS conference, also invited ESA to be present on their stand, thus giving ESA another opportunity to explain its role in the information society.

The Summit gave ESA a chance to make its work better known. More importantly, the Agency's representatives took the opportunity to learn more about the way the information society is expected to develop to ensure that ESA remains at the forefront of this o
'"/>

Contact: Jean Charles Bigot
jean-charles.bigot@esa.int
33-153-697-738
European Space Agency
15-Dec-2003