Ceo Objectives and Assumptions
The PPSC and the CEO team have established the following high level objectives for the CEO :
The CEO shall promote the application of Earth observation in the EU and Member States by :
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Encouraging communication and exchange of services between individual users and between user communities;
- Stimulating the creation of high level products, where and when necessary;
- promoting improved data standardization and quality assurance;
- co-ordinating the design and operation of existing and future decentralized data archives and data bases and data delivery services;
- improving the accessibility and availability of Earth observation data, services and expertise.
Two main design constraint apply to the CEO
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The CEO shall pay due regard to, and take advantage of , established institutions and existing and planned networks and projects.
- The CEO shall be designed to evolve and adapt flexibly to future needs of the users and to changes in data sources.
These objectives, and discussion with the PPSC, have lead the following reflections about the CEO :
Participating Entities
The entities that should benefit from the existence of the CEO include all organizations or individuals with a professional objective that may be approached by using information obtained from Earth observation. Such entities will include the Services of the Commission, National government organizations, regional, local and city government, universities and research centers, commercial companies and international consortia.
It is therefore expected that users of and providers to the CEO will be drawn all these entities.
Organisation Autonomy
Organisations across Europe and outside Europe will participate in the CEO programme. The CEO team and the PPSC will ensure that the CEO is implemented according to the design criteria. There is no reason for the CEO faculty to interfere with the autonomy of organizations using its facilities, but rather the CEO faculty should leave users free to expand their expertise and infrastructure by using services and resources made available through the CEO programme.
Decentralised Approach
The CEO should be decentralized, and rely on as few central services as possible. In the early stages of the CEO project a central co-ordinating facility will certainly be necessary although its role and responsibilities remain to be determined.
Standards
The CEO programme should ensure accessibility to data, information and services. To achieve this the CEO programme should sometimes recommend or promote (but not impose) standards, formats or software.
Formats
The CEO should help users to access data ad services across the full range of formats and standards available on the system. This may require the creation of specialized software but there is no assumption about who should provide that software.
Earth Observation Expertise
Earth observation expertise and data are distributed over many organization. The CEO should establish mechanisms to make them more easily available to potential users
Flexibility
User requirements for the DEO Programme will change as new applications are introduced, as users become more expert into analysis of Earth observation data, and as their understanding of the capabilities and potentialities of the CEO increases. The CEO should therefore keep track of and be responsive to changing user requirements.
New Technology
New technology and its consequences must be continuously incorporated into or accommodated by the CEO Programme.
