GMES Operational Capacity Workshop

The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria with the support of the European Commission and under the overall coordination of BIOG (the Bulgarian Information Office for Earth observation and Global Monitoring for Environment and Security Program) is organizing the 2nd Earth Observation-Global Monitoring for Environment And Security Operational Capacity Workshop.

The workshop will be held under the aegis of Mr. Boyko Borisov – prime-minister of the Republic of Bulgaria and Mrs. Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response.

The preparation and organization of this second event logically followed the positive opinion of the participants and the success of the First Operational Capacity Workshop which took place in Sofia on 25-26 March 2010.

The key objective of the GMES Sofia workshop is to raise awareness on the European Earth monitoring programme (GMES), to present the updated vision on the GMES services from the European Commission experts and other European organisations and to foster information exchange among different stakeholders.

The event will display the capacities and activities already realised especially in the field of risk and security management, crisis management and land monitoring. Specific attention will be devoted to the potential impact of GMES services on local and regional administrations and generic users, paying attention on the regional networks supporting cohesion and equity among member-states under GMES.

It will provide an open platform for representatives from different governmental bodies with special attention on EU12, European institutions and agencies, networks, research organisations, and also data and service providers, business managers and others.