Belgian Earth Observation Day 2014

Information

The main goal of the Belgian Earth Observation Day is to make professionals and researchers concerned by remote sensing aware of the projects realized in Belgium in the framework of the STEREO (Support to Exploitation and Research in Earth Observation ) programme and to offer the possibility for networking.

1. STEREO II comes to an end

The STEREO II programme, launched in 2006, aimed at putting Belgium on the map as a centre of expertise in a number of remote sensing areas and to establish the use of remote sensing as a common technique in the greatest possible number of research and application fields. The last batch of projects ended in June 2014, signalling the closure of the programme. During the last months of the STEREO II programme, a programme evaluation was carried out by an external consultant to see whether the initial objectives were met and to suggest ways to improve the STEREO III programme. Both the results of the final STEREO II projects and the outcome of the programme evaluation will be presented during this event.

2. The relaunch of STEREO III

For continuity’s sake, a first call for proposals was launched last year along the lines of STEREO II. Since then, the programme was adapted taking into consideration the recommendations of STEREO’s evaluators. During the event, you will find out all about the types of projects that now can be financed, the calendar of calls for the next few years and much more.

3. Getting to know STEREO's stakeholders

The scientific outcome of STEREO II was quite impressive, but now the time has come to try to turn some of those results in application. This will be a major objective of STEREO III. It is therefore crucial that academia, administrations and industry get to know one another. A first special session will be dedicated to Belgian regional administrations and how they use remote sensing. In a second one, companies looking for partnerships with academia or looking to hire scientists can briefly present themselves. Individual meetings can be arranged during the day.