UN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SPIN-OFF BENEFITS OF SPACE TECHNOLOGY TO BE HELD IN TAMPA, FLORIDA, 30 MARCH - 3 APRIL

Press Release
OS/1736

UN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SPIN-OFF BENEFITS OF SPACE TECHNOLOGY TO BE HELD IN TAMPA, FLORIDA, 30 MARCH - 3 APRIL

VIENNA, 24 March (UN Information Service) -- Ways to benefit from space technology, including the creation of new industries, the development of useful products and the facilitation of many daily tasks, will be the focus of an international conference to be held in Tampa, Florida, from 30 March to 3 April.

Organized by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, the conference will demonstrate the many ways, particularly through industrial activities, that countries and their citizens can directly or indirectly benefit from space technology applications and its spin-offs. It will also examine opportunities available to developing countries to participate in these ventures. Participants at the conference will also have a unique opportunity to imbibe much knowledge at a space technology exhibit that is being organized at the Tampa Convention Centre, from 1 to 3 April.

The conference will expose industrialists and private establishments in the developing countries to the many ways in which their companies and countries have and could directly and indirectly benefit from the various technologies that have and are being developed for space exploration and utilization. It will also provide invaluable opportunities for the participating private and other establishments from the industrialized and developing countries to interact for possible short- and long-term collaborations in areas of mutual interest.

Participants from both developing and industrialized countries will also have opportunities to interact and discuss issues of common concern with their counterparts at the conference.

The conference is being conducted as a part of the 1998 activities of the United Nations Space Applications Programme, which is mandated by the General Assembly to promote the awareness of advances in space technology and its applications, including new system developments, in developing countries. In that connection, the Programme conducts an annual series of training courses, seminars, conferences and workshops on space technology-related issues. It also administers a long-term fellowship programme for in-depth training of specialists in space science and technology, provides technical

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advisory services on request, and is currently establishing regional Centres for Space Science and Technology Education with the goal of developing indigenous capability in space technology at the local level.

Participants in the conference are expected from Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hungary, India, Japan, Kenya, Nigeria, Romania, Tunisia, Thailand, United States, Zambia and space-related United States government establishments and private industries.

Presentations will be made by experts and industrialists from Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, United States and the United Nations.

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