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Secure World Foundation Newsletter - January/February

Announcements

January 21, 2014

SWF Welcomes Two New Staff Members and a New Advisory Committee Member

Secure World Foundation (SWF) is excited to welcome Project Managers Ms. Laura Delgado López and Mr. Christopher D. Johnson, and SWF Advisory Committee member Dr. Mazlan Othman.

Laura joins us from the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, a Virginia-based nonprofit promoting science education and collaboration in Earth observations, where she advanced the development of strategies for key program initiatives, performed research and led the planning and implementation of high-level stakeholder meetings, as well as educational events with an international reach.

Chris worked as an attorney in New York City beginning in 2006, and in 2010 entered the space industry by receiving his Master of Law in Advanced Studies in Air and Space Law from Leiden University, the Netherlands, and with an internship at the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in Vienna, Austria during the 2010 Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

“Laura and Chris will bring energy, expertise and a strong team spirit to our very busy agenda,” says Executive Director Michael Simpson.

Mazlan Othman will be joining us later this year for a three-year term on the SWF Advisory Committee. We have had the pleasure of working with Mazlan in her role as Director of the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in Vienna, where she recently stepped down from her second term (1999-2002 and 2007-2013), and SWF is very excited to work with her as a member of our Advisory Committee.

 

January 30, 2014

SWF Elected as a Participating Organization to GEO

SWF was honored with election as a "Participating Organization" to the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) at the plenary session held in Geneva, Switzerland in January. SWF was acknowledged for the substantial work it has done to broaden the base of those benefitting from space capabilities, as well as its efforts on some of GEO's principle issue areas like data sharing, disaster management, space applications in the service of humanity, and user engagement.

With good reason, we look forward to a long and productive partnership.

Recent SWF Events

January 13, 2014

SWF Co-organizes Side Event at the GEO Ministerial Week, "Disaster Mitigation and Earth Observations: A GEOSS Perspective"

SWF and the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Secretariat partnered to organize a January 13, 2014 workshop titled “Disaster Mitigation and Earth Observations: A GEOSS Perspective,” in the context of the GEO Ministerial Week in Geneva, Switzerland. The purpose of the event, which included presentations from over a dozen disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) experts from all over the world, was to foster discussions between data/service providers and users on the progress of regional and international initiatives to promote the use of Earth observations (EO) in DRRM, and to identify challenges and opportunities in efforts to expand their use for decision-making, particularly in developing countries. Over 70 researchers and practitioners from governments, universities, UN agencies and industry came together to discuss lessons learned and opportunities for the use of EO data and services in all phases of DRRM. The event was organized as part of SWF’s Human and Environmental Security initiative. SWF Executive Director Michael Simpson and GEO Director of the Secretariat Barbara Ryan opened the event while Victoria Samson, SWF Washington Office Director, moderated the first of three panels in the day-long event.

 

February 26, 2014

SWF Co-hosts AMOS Dialogue on Space Situational Awareness

The AMOS Dialogue, a small, invitation-only workshop, was co-hosted by SWF, the Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB), and the Japan Space Forum (JSF) on February 26, 2014 prior to the JSF's 3rd International Symposium on Sustainable Space Development and Utilization for Humankind (IS3DU 2014) in Tokyo, Japan. 

The goal of the workshop was to foster dialogue among space situational awareness (SSA) providers and end users, thereby promoting greater collaboration and cooperation toward SSA-enabled safe and responsible space operations. Topics addressed included: current status of SSA programs and sharing initiatives, identification of areas for further improvement or collaboration, gaps in coverage or meeting end user needs, and future steps.

Publications

January 26, 2014

World Economic Forum Releases New Report on Bringing Space Down to Earth

The World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Space Security has published a preview of a new book examining the important role space technology and capabilities play in addressing our most pressing challenges on Earth.

Work on the book began in 2012 under the Council Chairmanship of SWF Technical Advisor Brian Weeden and continued under the current Council Chairmanship of SWF Advisory Committee member Dr. Kazuto Suzuki. Dr. Suzuki highlighted the report during his participation in the 2014 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The Council plans to publish the full chapters on each of the topics over the course of the following year.

 

February 25, 2014

SWF Releases Updated International Code of Conduct for Space Activities Fact Sheet

SWF has updated its Fact Sheet on the Draft International Code of Conduct for Space Activities. The draft reflects an international effort to create a voluntary, non-legally binding international instrument aimed at building norms of responsible behavior in space activities.

Staff Activities and Presentations

January 13-14, 2014

Senior Advisor Ray Williamson Participates in the First Meeting of the Steering Committee of the International Asteroid Warning Network

SWF Senior Advisor Ray Williamson took part in the first meeting of the Steering Committee of the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) hosted by the Minor Planet Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics held on January 13-14, 2014 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The meeting established membership of an Ad Hoc Steering Committee; provided an opportunity to hear directly from experts engaged in Near Earth Object (NEO) discovery, tracking, and characterization; to examine policies regarding threat threshold criteria; and discussed the need to provide recommendations for communicating asteroid threat information to the world's political leaders and the general population.

 

February 10-21, 2014

SWF Actively Participates in the 51st Session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

The fifty-first session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (STSC) of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) was held from February 10-21, 2014, at the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria. Once again, SWF had a strong participation in several areas.

This year's meeting marks the beginning of the discussions of the Working Group of Member States on the set of draft proposed guidelines for the long-term sustainability of space activities. The draft guidelines are a result of the work of the four Expert Groups over the last two years, which included participation from multiple SWF staff.

SWF Technical Advisor Brian Weeden delivered two statements on behalf of SWF, the first on February 11 commending the work of the Expert Groups and urging the Working Group to reach consensus on a set of voluntary guidelines in a timely manner. The second statement was delivered on February 12 under the Exchange of Views agenda item summarizing the activities of SWF since June 2013 relevant to the work of UNCOPUOS. The following day, Mr. Weeden gave a technical presentation summarizing the non-technical challenges posed by rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), in particular on-orbit satellite servicing (OOS) and active debris removal (ADR).

SWF Senior Advisor Ray Williamson also attended the session to participate in Action Team-14 discussions on implementing its recent report on dealing with the threat posed by Near Earth Objects (NEOs). Action Team-14 reported on the creation and first meetings of the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) and Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG). SWF Project Manager Chris Johnson also attended the session to meet with UNOOSA and UN-SPIDER to discuss future projects and collaborations with SWF on using space technology for human and environmental security on Earth.