UN/USA WORKSHOP IN VIENNA WILL REVIEW APPLICATIONS OF GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEMS

UN/USA WORKSHOP IN VIENNA WILL REVIEW APPLICATIONS

OF GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEMS

VIENNA, 21 November (UN Information Service) –- The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is organising a regional workshop on the use and applications of global navigation satellite systems for the benefit of countries in Central and Eastern Europe.  It will be held next week, from 26 to 30 November, at the Austria Centre, Vienna.  It is the second of a series of four regional workshops and an international meeting that are being co-sponsored by the United States Government.  Next week’s workshop is also being co-sponsored by the European Commission.

Through active involvement of all participants, the workshop aims to:  increase awareness of the benefits of the availability and use of global navigation satellite systems signals in the region of Central and Eastern Europe.  It will provide opportunities for experts to establish partnership with potential users of related technologies in the region.  It is also aimed at identifying actions to be taken in the region through, international co-operation to integrate the use of those signals in practical applications, to protect the environment and to promote sustainable development.

Global Navigation satellite systems –- known as GNSS bring increasing benefits to people’s daily lives.  Benefits of GNSS applications are growing in areas such as aviation, maritime and land transportation, mapping and surveying, agriculture, power and telecommunications networks, and disaster warning and emergency response.  For developing countries in particular, these applications offer a cost-effective way to pursue economic growth without compromising the need to preserve the environment, thus promoting sustainable development.  The all-weather systems provide extremely high accuracy global coverage.

The first of the series of the regional workshops was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in August this year for the benefit of countries in Asia and the Pacific.  In 2002, the third regional workshop will be held in Santiago, Chile, from 1 to 5 April, to be followed by a fourth workshop in Lusaka, Zambia in July.  The conclusions and recommendations of these regional workshops will be reviewed at the international meeting of experts scheduled toward the end of 2002 to be held in Vienna, Austria. 

Next week’s workshop in Vienna brings together decision-makers, programme managers in government agencies, research institutes and the private sector responsible for activities and projects to promote sustainable development in

Central and Eastern European countries.  They will come from the following countries:  Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

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