On 16-17 April 2012, NEREUS in collaboration with Veneto Region and CORILA, organized a workshop aimed at raising awareness for the significance of EGNOS and Galileo applications in the marine and maritime sectors. The workshop brought together a wide spectrum of European end-users such as the Venice port authority and many port operators, the Veneto region as well as members of the European Institutions and industries representatives.
Four political and technical sessions, a great number of project presentations and a very constructive debate animated the two day event.
During the first day’s political session, members of the European Institutions as well as representatives of regional administrations strongly affirmed the fundamental importance of GNSS based applications to develop marine and maritime market sectors. MEP Antonio Cancian pointed out the undeniable public service value as well as the commercial opportunities offered by the Galileo program and called for greater development of applications.
Mr Gian Gherardo Calini, GSA, stressed in his intervention the need for a more user oriented approach in the development of GNSS applications. He also called for a strong European awareness raising campaign on the potential uses of GNSS applications and in the importance of EGNOS and Galileo programs. In this context he recognized the essential role of the NEREUS network in spreading the understanding of space in the regions across Europe and in identifying regional end-users needs. Mr Clément Williamson, European Commission, GMES bureau underlined the close interaction between GMES and EGNOS/Galileo programs and stressed the importance for an integrated approach for the exploitation of both systems.
In the afternoon sections many examples of GNSS applications were presented by chief executives of industries giving concrete examples of how many marine and maritime activities benefit from satellite navigation systems. The day ended with the presentation and discussion of ongoing projects as well as with a presentation of new project ideas. On this occasion Clément Williamson presented the new EMMIA call on GNSS and GMES based services inviting the participants to submit their contributions.
The second day was dedicated to present the experiences of the port operators and show the individual needs but also the common experiences that characterize the management of the European ports. The workshop ended with a session of the NEREUS GNSS WG which was the opportunity to present the 2012 work programme and involve new members in the working group activities.
Speaker’s speeches and project presentations:
Session 2a – Marine and maritime applications
Session 2b – Marine and maritime applications
