He has a degree in Physics from the University of Milan and worked in the private sector until 1996, managing companies specialising in GIS, earth observation and software development. He joined the JRC in 1997. Alessandro has more than 25 years experience in various environmental fields, working on spatial planning, spatial analysis, environmental modelling, geoinformation and related technologies, remote sensing, image processing, system design and software development. He has participated in several European projects (GIGAS, ORCHESTRA, GINIE, ETEMII, PANEL-GI, NATURE-GIS, GIPSIE, SAFIR, DOCMIX,..) and is author, co-author and editor of over 100 papers and books. Since 2006 he has been appointed as Co-Chair of the GEOSS Architecture and Data Committee. Alessandro is also a member of the Executive Board of the International Society for Digital Earth.

Andreas Veispak, an Estonian, started his professional career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, working on and leading numerous projects across different sectors of the economy (industry, financial and insurance, telecommunications, transport, energy, the public sector) in fields related to economic development, strategic advisory, mergers & acquisitions, project finance, public-private-partnerships, due diligence and corporate recovery. He joined the European Commission in 2005 where dealt with the automotive industry and was responsible for questions related to industrial competitiveness, energy and the environment. Between 2010 and 2015 he joined the team of the Director General of DG GROW at the European Commission (internal market, industrial competitiveness, space – Copernicus and Galileo – entrepreneurship and SMEs). He is currently the Head of Unit for Space Data for Societal Challenges and Growth at the European Commission with responsibility for space-related data, user uptake and new business models as well as international relations and outreach activities. Andreas was educated at the University of Oxford where he studied Modern History.

Dorine Burmanje is chair of the Executive Board of the Netherlands' Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency, in short: Kadaster. Her main focus is to position Kadaster at national and international level as partner in property related issues and geographic information facilitating society; executed in close cooperation with stakeholders from academic institutes, the public and private sector.

Her main areas of responsibility include the general management of the organisation, the positioning of Kadaster as a non-departmental public body, the promotion of Kadaster as a partner in the GEO sector as well as further development of innovation. Mrs Burmanje is also engaged in various associations in the field of spatial information. Prior to her current position at Kadaster, mrs Burmanje was the director of the Rijn and IJssel Waterboard.

Mr. Pirondini is co-founder and CEO of Deimos Imaging, a Spanish company part of the UrtheCast group, operating and marketing the Deimos-1 and Deimos-2 EO satellites. An Aerospace Engineer with almost 20 years of experience in the space sector, in his career he covered all facets of the Earth Observation value chain, encompassing technical aspects, business development, strategy and management. After an experience at the European Space Agency in Germany, in 2001 he co-founded Deimos Space, which is now one of Europe's leading space companies. Until 2010, as Head of the Earth Observation Mission Analysis division at Deimos Space, he was responsible for the mission design and analysis of more than 20 Earth Observation missions. As CEO of Deimos Imaging since 2011, he led the expansion of the company into becoming one of the leading providers of satellite imagery. In 2014 he co-founded the PanGeo Alliance of EO satellite operators.

Geoff is the Secretary General of EARSC with a long and varied career holding senior management positions in the space industry as well as numerous representative positions in the UK and Europe. These include 3 years as the chairman of EARSC (from 1992 to 1996) and as a member of several EU consultative bodies such as Spassec (for space and security) and the SecAG (Security Advisory Group). Geoff began his career as a radar systems engineer responsible for the ERS-1 synthetic aperture radar and continued until recently as EADS Vice President Corporate Strategist for Space. In addition to his extensive industrial experience, Geoff spent 3 years working for the European Commission where he was responsible for supporting space policy development and in particular the creation of the GMES initiative.

As secretary general of EARSC since 2011, Geoff has successfully developed the Association into a much more active and visible community. He has been responsible for several studies carried out by EARSC including a full survey of the EO services industry in 2013 and of a study into the impact of a free and open data policy for the Copernicus Sentinel data (often referred to as the "Geese and Golden Eggs" study). EARSC has also made its mark on the world stage and is now widely recognised as the leading voice for the EO services companies in Europe.

Ger Nieuwpoort is, since July 1, 2009, director of the Netherlands Space Office (NSO). The NSO is part of the Dutch Government and is responsible for developing and managing the Space program of The Netherlands. The NSO represents the Netherlands in international contacts and fora.

After writing his thesis in Chemistry he started working for the national government. During his career he worked as a policy maker and as head of division for the ministry of Education and Sciences in the areas of research infrastructure and science and technology policy. After changing position towards the ministry of Transport, Public Works and Watermanagement he was, as head of division, responsible for the development of economic and safety policy for maritime transport and subsequently the transport of dangerous goods.

Since June 1, 2006, he became director of the Netherlands Agency of Aerospaceprogrammes, which due to restructuring within government became the NSO.

Henk J. Scholten studied Mathematics and Geography at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and obtained his Ph.D. on the subject of models for housing allocation at the Faculty of Geography of the University of Utrecht (NL) in 1988. Since 1990 he is professor in Spatial Informatics at the Faculty of Economics of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Director of the Spinlab (www.spinlab.vu.nl).

Prof. Scholten is founder and CEO of Geodan, one of the largest European companies specialised in Geospatial Information Technology (www.geodan.nl). On Friday April 29th, 2005, Prof. Scholten received a Royal Decoration for his significant contribution to geo-information, both on a national and international level.

In July 2009 the 'Lifetime Achievement Award'was given to Prof. Scholten by Jack Dangermond, founder of ESRI. This award is given to a person who has contributed significantly to advancing the science and technology of GIS throughout his career.

In 2015 Prof. Scholten received from the Manchester University the title of honorary Doctor of Science from the Faculty of Science and Engineering for his extensive contributions to GIS.

Professor Scholten has written many articles about GIS for publication in international books and journals.

Johannes Riegl, Jr. has been the Chief Marketing Officer of RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems since 2012. His responsibilities include marketing the RIEGLbrand worldwide and public relations, as well as developing the company's international distribution and partner network. As such, a new RIEGL China office, based in Beijing, was established in 2014. Mr. Riegl also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for RIEGL USA, based in Orlando, Florida. His position reflects a unique role within the company, to include the responsibility for the coordination of sales, business development, and marketing efforts between the international RIEGL locations. Johannes Riegl, Jr. holds a Master's degree in Business Management from the University of Applied Sciences in Vienna.

Dr. Krischke is Co-Founder and CEO of CloudEO. He is responsible for the strategic direction of the company, for overseeing operations and for building the relationships that are essential to success.

In 2011 he led the consortium to buy the assets of RapidEye (5 satellites constellation) out of the insolvency and was interim CEO for the restructured company. He originally founded RapidEye in 1998 and was its CEO until 2004.

He was the Managing Director of Intermap GmbH and VP at Intermap Corp for six years - an innovative geospatial solutions company, traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, which employed at that time over 950 people worldwide. Dr. Krischke has been a Senior Advisor to Spacetec Capital Partners, a venture capital company specializing in early stage investment and consulting services for established hi-tech companies and governmental agencies. Before that he consulted several companies and spent 8 month at Guildford consulting Surrey Satellite Technologies. He started his career at Kayser-Threde GmbH, Munich (today OHB), where he was Business Development Manager for Navigation, Communication, Small Satellites and Manned Space Transportation.

He was awarded a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the Technical University of Munich. In 1991 he received the Wernher-von-Braun Award of the Deutsche Aerospace (today Airbus) for the best visionary diploma thesis in Germany, which he wrote during his studies at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge.

Bengt Kjellson was appointed as the Director General and Chief Executive of Lantmäteriet in July 2011, and before his appointment to head the authority, Bengt was Head of Lantmäteriet´s Division for Land Registration.

Lantmäteriet is the Swedish mapping, cadastral and land registration authority.

He has also been involved in international matters related to Land Administration.

Other assignments
• Chairman of UN GGIM Europe Executive Committee, 2014 —
• Member of The Council for digitalization of Public Administration in Sweden 2015 —
• Faculty of Law, Uppsala University. Chairman of the Institute of Real Estate Legal Research, 2005 —, member of board since 1999.
• Member of the Swedish e-Government delegation 2011 — 2015
• Member of board and vice president of Eurogeograhics, 2012—2014
• Chairman of board for EULIS 2005 — 2013
• Chairman of UN ECE Working Party on Land Administration (2001-2005), and Bureau member 1999—2005.

Bengt got his law degree from University of Uppsala, Sweden.

Rob Beck is an ecologist active in remote sensing since 1976. He has performed mapping and monitoring projects all over the planet. His expertise in earth observation includes the development of methods and technology in change detection in collaboration with the international research community. With NEO, the company he manages since 20 years, he has developed innovative products and services, leading to new and still rapidly expanding business.

As a social entrepreneur and Chief Executive at Geospatial Media and Communications, Sanjay Kumar has been working towards facilitating and accelerating growth of the geospatial industry worldwide and raising awareness of the industry's value proposition and contribution to world's economy and society.

Having co-founded Geospatial Media and Communications, Sanjay has been responsible for its transformation and evolution to be a leading geospatial media organisation making difference through geospatial knowledge and advocacy. He also co-founded Association of Geospatial Industries of India in 2008 and serves on Board of Directors of Open Geospatial Consortium since 2011.

He holds a Masters in Political Science and M. Phil. in International Studies from the University of Delhi.

Steven Ramage is Director of Strategy at what3words, a British startup that has created a global location reference and address system: what3words.com/about - what3words is partnering with a number of global geospatial players, including Esri and Safe Software.

Steven has worked for a number of organisations in the geospatial sector since the 1990s, notably Oceonics (acquired by Fugro), Navteq (now HERE), 1Spatial and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). Prior to joining what3words, Steven was the Managing Director of Ordnance Survey International, the overseas commercial division of Great Britain's national mapping agency.

He has spent many years working on geospatial data quality issues and international open standards, including work with the United Nations initiative for Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), co-authoring a paper with INEGI (national institute of statistics and geography in Mexico) on geospatial standards for national mapping and cadastre agencies.

Steven is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), a member of the OGC Global Advisory Council, Visiting Professor at the Institute for Future Cities at the University of Strathclyde and a member of the Urban Big Data Centre at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Steven has dedicated most of his career to location strategy, innovation and communication.

Pacôme Révillon is the CEO of Euroconsult, based in Paris, France. Over a career spanning 15 years, he has become a trusted advisor working with the world's top companies in the satellite industry. In this role, Pacôme is responsible for the overall business vision, strategic growth, profitability and operations of the firm. Under his leadership, the company has experienced continuous global growth and has become recognized as the leading reference for strategic, economic and financial aspects of satellite and broadcasting activities.

Pacôme has spearheaded crucial consulting projects for stakeholders at all levels of the satellite value chain located in over 20 countries. He has directly advised new and leading operators, banks and investment funds, leading government organizations and industrial players, including diverse communication service companies and broadcasters. Mandates ranged from support to strategic planning and decision-making to performance assessments, feasibility studies and due diligence missions. In particular, he manages and contributes to due diligence projects related to project financing and M&A transactions.He has also led Euroconsult research activities in the satellite communication and broadcasting sector over several years, editing and contributing to all research reports published by Euroconsult such as the Satellite Communications & Broadcasting Market Survey.

Pacôme has served as the CEO & Managing Director of Euroconsult since 2003. Prior to joining Euroconsult, he worked on the design of communication networks at DLR in Germany and Thales in France. He holds a Graduate Engineering Degree in Telecommunications & Space and a Diploma in Management and Economics (DESIA) from leading aerospace institute SUPAERO in France. Pacôme is recognized as a foremost expert in the satellite and broadcasting industry and is frequently invited to speak and moderate at industry conference. Pacôme regularly contributes to corporate events involving presentations to board meetings, executive brainstorming sessions and customer events. He also gives lectures in several universities for graduate and MBA programs.

Mr. Thorsten Rudolph is Managing Director of the Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO). He is a pioneer in building space innovation networks on a global scale. AZOs Innovation Masters Series for the European Galileo and Copernicus Programs with more than 10.000 business cases in the last 12 years has become the leading innovation platform covering the New Space Economy and involving some of the largest technology players (e.g., Airbus Defence and Space, ESA, DLR, T-Systems, DHL, BMW, Nokia). Mr. Rudolph founded the first European Business Incubator for Satellite Navigation and Earth Observation in 2001 and established and currently manages the ESA BIC Bavaria - the most successful European Space Incubator with 105 Startup Companies.

Wouter Brokx is Director of Imagem, Hexagon Geospatial partner in the Benelux, and early Smart M.Apps adopter. Wouter has an MSc in Geology, with a postdoctorate in Remote Sensing. He has worked for the Dutch Aerospace Agency NLR, and with Imagem since 2003. Wouter enjoys the combination of entrepreneurship, innovation and strategic marketing & sales in the geospatial domain.

Chris has been Vice President of Survey, Geospatial/ GIS, Infrastructure of Trimble Navigation Ltd., since April 2009. Chris joined Trimble in 1998 and later in December 2010, his responsibilities were expanded to include oversight of geographic regions and divisions, including Building Construction, Construction Tools. Gibson received a BA in Business Studies in 1985 from Thames Polytechnic (now the University of Greenwich) and was admitted as a Fellow to the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in 1994.

Rainer Sternfeld is the Founder and CEO at Planet OS, a Silicon Valley Industrial IoT company with a development office in Estonia. The company has been working with large­scale geospatial sensor data since 2012 when it first launched Marinexplore, an open data portal for ocean datasets. Since then Planet OS has collaborated with tens of large enterprises such as RWE and Bravante, and government agencies such as NOAA and NASA, solving data access and decision support problems.

A robotics engineer and product developer by training, Rainer is an experienced Estonian entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, focused on data­driven businesses that grow enterprise value. Prior to Planet OS, Sternfeld led ABB Group to establish the world's first nation­wide fast­charging infrastructure for electric cars in Estonia. In his five years at ABB Baltic States team (1,300 people), Rainer led the initiatives for new business development, product strategy, operational excellence and enterprise IT.

Rainer also serves on the Board of Directors of the World Ocean Council, is the co­designer of the Statue of Liberty of Estonia, and has helped to build successful new businesses in CAD, product design, and industrial machining.

Camille van der Harten (1957) graduated from the Wageningen University in Tropical Agriculture, Economics and Tropical Soil Science, including fieldwork and research in Kenya. Between 1986 and 2000 he worked for the United Nations and the Dutch Government in Pakistan (NFDC), Italy (FAO Headquarters) and Zimbabwe (SADC Regional Remote Sensing Unit). Since 2000 he has been holding management positions in the private sector (Adogis, Tensing en Nexpri. At present his main assignments are Director from GeoBusiness Nederland and Secretary Partners in Geo.

Ted Lamboo joined Bentley in 1994 and now leads the company's global initiative to develop new markets and partnerships in the data capture of existing assets and infrastructure, leading to the availability and use of reality models in the as-built world. In his previously held positions with Bentley, he served as Bentley's senior vice president, infrastructure owners, senior vice president of civil and geospatial global operations, senior vice president of international operations, president of Bentley Asia/Pacific, and vice president of sales for Bentley Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Prior to joining Bentley, Ted served for 13 years at Intergraph Europe, the European headquarters of Intergraph Corporation. He holds a degree in geodetic engineering from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and several post-graduate diplomas in computer engineering and development.

Mr. Marc Melviez joined Luciad in 2004, where he first served as CFO. In 2013, he was appointed as Group CEO. During the early years of Luciad, Mr. Melviez helped build the company's efficient organizational structure. His efforts were essential in establishing cost-effective quality assurance, finance, human resources, services and administration departments.

In his new role, Mr. Melviez is leading the company with an ambitious corporate development plan aimed at promoting Luciad's cutting-edge products in new territories. Mr. Melviez developed basic business skills at KPMG and Management Science America between 1981 and 1988. He later managed several software companies, where he drove fast growth companies to high profitability by establishing new corporate entities in various global markets.

Mr. Melviez holds a master's degree in Business Engineering from the Solvay Brussels School.

Rob van de Velde (1961, The Hague, The Netherlands) is currently director of Geonovum, the Dutch National SDI Executive Committee. Geonovum's mission is to realize better access to geo-information in the public sector and full integration of its services to public and industry. Geonovum has been mandated by the National GI-Council to implement the EU Inspire-directive in The Netherlands and to develop a National Georegister. Furthermore Geonovum develops and manages the national framework of geo-standards. In his current role as director Mr. Van de Velde is strongly engaged in stimulating location awareness and organizing strategic cooperation amongst leaders in national and local government, academia and industry. He has a part-time position as lecturer in Spatial Informatics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Economics. Since 2008 he is member of the Board of Directors of the Open Geospatial Consortium. Graduated as a human geographer (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam), he started his career in geospatial technology when joining the National Planning Agency in 1985, the first Governmental Agency in the Netherlands to acquire GIS technology from ESRI inc. In 1988 he led the development of the first Dutch National Digital Atlas, presented by the Minister of Spatial Planning and Environment to national parliament, local politicians and leaders of industry. Later he served the National Environmental Protection Agency, responsible for developing a corporate geographical information system. He directed a consortium that developed the 10 Minutes Pan-European Land Use Database and was managing partner of an international collaboration between governmental agencies and universities under the EU-INTERREG3 program, entitled 'Participatory Spatial Planning in Europe'. In 2000 he joined the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Food Quality, heading the GIS Competence Center. In 2005 he initiated the development of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure for Disaster management, a joint effort of several public agencies, which was awarded with the Public Safety Innovation Award in 2007. In 2008 he was quartermaster of the National Public Map Services programme.

Msc. Gertjan Baars is an information management expert and Senior Director within the Public Sector Technology group of PwC. He studied Information Management at the University of Tilburg, worked for the ABN-AMRO Bank, Ministry of Defence and The Municipality of Rotterdam. In 1996 he joined PwC Consultancy. His working area's are the Public Sector, Digital and Demographics.

Gertjan's core competences are defining Information Management Strategies, Organisational Structures and Governance, Sourcing and the Quality Assurance on complex implementations of ICT applications in the user and management processes of governmental organisation on a regional level (municipalities, provinces, water-boards, education, housing companies, health-organisations within regional ec0-systems). In the field of Shared Services and Outsourcing, he is trainer at the Global PwC Advisory University.

He is also leader of the Digital Public Sector proposition where the connection is made between the competences Strategie, Finance, Operations, Change and Technology towards a comprehensive proposition for organizations to transform their businesses into a 'Digital' oriented one. Since PwC has a strong background on data collection and fact-finding, data in digitalized form form the basics on which the propositions are build.

In the field of Next generations and demographics and the effects of it on the young and old within Society as 'Ageing' he is a subjectmatter expert. Together with public and private partners like universities and clients he explores on a global and national level the possibilities and best practises in the field of Systems, Labourmarket, Spatial planning, Health and Wellbeing. Especially the cooperation on a regional level between government knowledge institutes and private parties within the field of Age friendly cities are of his interest. In this field of expertise he has worked together with the International Federation in Ageing, in leading and contributing in discussions with senior officials of Government on a global scale around solutions/barriers in coping with the effects of Ageing in the period of 2010-2016.

Natassa Antoniou is a Business Developing Manager for Geospatial Media and Communications. As member of the newly established European office, based in Amsterdam, she is in charge of outreach and market connection in the region (Europe) as well as strengthening the business relation with major geospatial stakeholders. She is supporting the business of publications and conferences from the region and also mobilizing speakers and delegates for conferences. Parallel she provides support in organization and executing the verticals of the region. She has been active in the European and international policy environment for the past seven years and brings to Geospatial Media and Communications a diverse range of experience. Prior to joining Geospatial Media and Communications Natassa was a Project Manager for Secure World Foundation. She was based in Brussels where she supported and oversaw projects dealing with space policy and human and environmental security issues. Natassa worked also as a trainee for the European Commission, DG Enterprise & Industry, Unit Space, Research & Development, where she assisted The European Earth Observation Programme (Copernicus) in organizing the FP8 Space Research Hearing and preparing the FP7 high-level Space Conference in Budapest. Moreover, she facilitated communication strategies for the FP7 Space third call such as a series of brochures and an i-phone application. Moreover, in her work as a former EU policy assistant in REGIOEUROPA, the representation office for Greek Local and Regional Authorities in Brussels, she assisted the regional and local authorities in meeting the demands of a modern regional policy with a European dimension.

Natassa attended the International Space University's (ISU) 2012 Space Studies Programme (SSP12) held in Florida, USA. She also studied Environmental Science at Aegean University, Department of Environment, in Greece. She received her Master's at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands where she double majored in Urban Environmental Management and Environmental Communication and Education, with an emphasis in environmental management systems and tools. She also holds a specialization as a Project Consultant and Community Advisor from the Universite Catholique de Louvain in Brussels, Belgium in collaboration with the Italian-Belgian Chamber of Commerce.

As the Director of Commercial Research and Policy Advocacy, Anamika is responsible for providing leadership and further develop the business of the division. She has 16 years of extensive experience across various functions and has handled various profiles like editorial, product management and Industry Analytics within Geospatial Media & Communications.

She holds an M.Phil in Geography from Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University.

Prashant Shukle is the Director General for the Canada Centre for Mapping and Remote Sensing Branch, Earth Sciences Sector, at Natural Resources Canada. Prashant joined the Public Service in 1989 and has worked for several departments including Canada Customs, Revenue Canada, Excise, Human Resources Development Canada, Social Development Canada, Service Canada and Natural Resources Canada. Mr. Shukle has extensive policy expertise His initiative led to the permanent creation of the federal Policy Research Initiative. Prashant has also obtained extensive experience in the area of Organizational Development, Change Management, and Performance and Outcomes Measurement. He is currently working to advance national geomatics policy and programs for Canada?s federal government by building effective international and national partnerships with federal, provincial, municipal governments, the private sector, and the academic community.

John Renard joined Cyient Ltd (formerly known as Infotech Enterprises Ltd) in 2000 via an acquisition. Between 2007 and 2014, he managed the global business operations of the Utilities & Telecom, and Data Transformation & Analytics, Business Units. He had full P&L responsibility for those businesses and under his leadership they more than doubled in turnover to over $115m per annum. In 2014 John became President – EMEA. In that position, he had responsibility for all of Cyient's activities in Europe, Middle East, Africa and India. From April 2016 and as part of a companywide reorganization, John now leads the Utilities and Geospatial Business Unit while continuing to have geographic responsibility for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

John first joined Cyient as Managing Director, Infotech Enterprises Europe Ltd (Cyient's original UK business). He led the UK and then part of the European business for six years, before transitioning to his global role. With more than 25 years of IT, geospatial and data engineering experience, John now specializes in financial management, strategy, business leadership and global outsourcing.

John has been involved in three acquisitions that Cyient has made. In 2005, Cyient acquired the Indian captive business of Tele Atlas BV (now part of TomTom). John has had overall responsibility for managing that relationship post acquisition. In August 2010, John led the negotiations and acquisition of a Telecom Engineering Services Business in North America, and most recently John has been Executive Sponsor for another acquisition that Cyient has made in North America. This was announced in March 2014.

Prior to working for Cyient, John ran his own consulting practice while living in France, working with companies such as Andersen Consulting, La Poste, ICI and Total.

John has a Master's degree from the University of Cambridge, where he first studied Geography and then Management Studies. He works out of Cyient's London office.

Gilles Ollier is the Head of Sector on Earth Observation at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation in Brussels, Belgium. He contributes to implementing research activities in the Earth observation domain and also supports the activities of the European Commission in the international GEO (Group on Earth Observation) initiative. In this context he deals with big data issues and the computing infrastructure necessary to handle, process and exploit Earth observation data. A geoscientist by profession, Gilles Ollier first joined the European Commission in 1993, where he devoted much of his career to the research Environment Program.

Prior to this he worked for 10 years as a marine geoscientist at the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER). He was notably involved in the International Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), an international marine research collaboration that explores Earth's history and dynamics using ocean-going research platforms to recover data recorded in seafloor sediments and rocks and to monitor sub-seafloor environments. Gilles Ollier contributed to IODP during a sabbatical year at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, USA.

Athina Trakas is Director for European Services at the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). In her position she is the contact person for OGC in Europe, responsible for the OGC's activities and networking in Europe.

This includes raising awareness and increase application of OGC standards by technology providers and users, connecting with European stakeholder organisations, the European Commission and members, supporting regional and national forum activities and planning and managing of OGC outreach and recruitment.

Mrs Trakas has presented internationally on geo-information management topics, mainly in the areas of OGC processes, interoperability and standards, geospatial and location data and information and why location matters.

She has a diploma in Geography and started working in the field of GIS in 1998. In 2006, she joined OGC as Director for Business Development on a part time basis. Since 2008 she is charter member of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo). In 2009 she was appointed OGC's Director for European Services.

Successive management and leadership positions in Airbus Defence and Space, both in Communications, Intelligence & Security (CIS) and Space Systems (previously Astrium) with responsibilities in space systems and services, operations and system engineering management, large projects/ programmes/ product lines and proposals management, in both telecommunications and earth observation systems, platforms and services.

Airbus Defence & Space – CIS – Intelligence –
Head of Operations & Quality - Head of Optical Programmes – Managing Director Airbus DS Geo SA

Head of Intelligence Operations & Quality: leadership and coordination of all Business Cluster transverse actions in the fields of Services & Products Portfolio, Programs, Ground Infrastructure/ Ground Systems Components & Products, Business Information Systems & IT, Imagery Production, Quality, Improvements & Transformation, Lean,

Head of the French Legal Entity Airbus DS Geo SA (previously Spot Image SA, with all SI Group reporting subsidiaries) and leadership of the France business, programmes and operations, liaising with France Government bodies (Defence and Civil Institutional) related to Geo Intelligence and Information service businesses.

Klaus Greve is Professor for GIS and Speaker of the Centre of Remote Sensing of the Earth Surface at the University of Bonn. His research focus on Environmental information Systems, Spatial Web Services/GSDI and Spatial Information Policies. As an academic teacher and manager he established close cooperation between University of Bonn an UN Institutions, esp. an International Joint Master Programme with United Nations University and a research cooperation with UNSPIDER. Prior to the professorship position he was CIO of the Environmental Administration of the State of Hamburg and responsible for the development of a statewide Environmental information System and the reogranisation of the ICT support of the environmental agencies.

Christian Heipke is a professor of photogrammetry and remote sensing at Leibniz Universität Hannover, where he currently leads a group of about 25 researchers. His professional interests comprise all aspects of photogrammetry, remote sensing, image understanding and their connection to computer vision and GIS. His has authored or co-authored more than 300 scientific papers, more than 70 of which appeared in peer-reviewed international journals. He is the recipient of the 1992 Otto von Gruber Award, the 2012 Fred Doyle Award, both from the International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS), and the 2013 Photogrammetric (Fairchild) Award from ASPRS.

From 2004 to 2009, he served as vice president of EuroSDR (European Spatial Data Research, formerly known as OEEPE). From 2011-2014 he was chair of the German Geodetic Commission (DGK). Currently he serves as ISPRS Secretary General.

Mr. Oldeen has previously worked as a reporter and editor at Sveriges Radio, The Swedish national broadcaster - but also as a business developer and marketer of Swedish environmental technology to the Asian market.

In recent years he has worked as Director of Communications in the GIS cluster Future Position X, with headquarter in Gävle, Sweden.

Dr. Navulur is Sr. Director of Global Strategic Programs at DigitalGlobe. He recently became interim president of DigitalGlobe foundation. He has over 22 years of experience in geospatial industry. He is the author of the book "Multi-Spectral Image Analysis Using Object Oriented Paradigm". He is a invited speaker at various international conferences including World Bank, UNGGIM, Cambridge Conference, and others.

Mr. DeLoatch serves as the Executive Director for the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Secretariat. The FGDC leads and supports the National Spatial Data Infrastructure Strategy and spatial data policy development in the United States. The FGDC also coordinates with international organizations having an interest in spatial data infrastructures. Mr. DeLoatch has over thirty years of experience in environmental and geospatial program policy in many sectors. He has served in many leadership roles on interagency and international committees addressing geospatial and earth observation technical and policy issues in the use of geospatial data and information. He studied at Bowie State University in the University of Maryland System.

Yana Gevorgyan is a Senior International Relations Specialist at the NOAA Satellite and Information Service. Ms. Gevorgyan manages the participation of the United States government in the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) through her leadership in the national interagency processes and serving as the U.S. sherpa and representative of the U.S. Principal and Co-chair of GEO. Ms. Gevorgyan co-authored the GEO Strategic Plan for 2016-2025: Implementing GEOSS, adopted by the GEO Ministerial Summit in November 2015 and currently being implemented by the global community of GEO.

Massimo Claudio Comparini has a Master Degree in Electrical Engineering, Remote Sensing and Radar Systems, University of Rome "La Sapienza", and a Degree in Strategy at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, CA.

He began his career in the space industry in 1983 at Selenia Spazio reaching the role of Chief Technology Officer

In Thales Alenia Space, he took up the role of Deputy Chief Technical Officer, CTO and VP for R&D, Technology, Product Policy and IPR. In 2013 he was appointed Chief Technical Officer at Telespazio

He is also the Chairman of Space Innovation in the Italian Technology Platform SPIN IT.

In 2016, he has been appointed as CEO of e-GEOS.

Shivalik holds a Bachelor of Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela (1999) and a MS in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA (2001). Shivalik is part of the core team of MapmyIndia and is evangelizing the marketplace towards adoption of location based technologies such as MAPS, GPS, and Navigation etc into day to day functioning of business operations. He works closely with various automotive OEM, leading business houses of India and large technology firms based out California USA. Shivalik in his spare time likes to delve into non-fiction history.

Born in Barcelona, Spain, 1973

Bachelor in Meteorology and Climatology, University of Barcelona. Master in Aeronautical Meteorology, UKMO

I've been involved in Weather Media Content in Spain from 1995 until 2010. I joined Earth Networks in 2008 where I'm responsible for implementing EN's business development strategy in Europe, Middle East and West Africa. I'm also responsible for Company's aeronautical strategy in those marketplaces closely following the fast-growing aeronautical marketplace.

Kammy Brun has been working in Euroconsult HQ in Paris, France since 2010. She has participated in numerous consulting missions, specializing in government and commercial supply and demand for Earth observation, data distribution and downstream services market. As part of her consulting work, Kammy has lead interview campaigns on numerous projects, leading to more than 80 interviews with Earth Observation stakeholders over the last couple of years.

In addition, Kammy is lead contributor on several EO-focused research reports focus on supply-chain dynamics and demand for EO solutions across numerous vertical markets. Such as on "Satellite-based Earth Observation, Market Prospects" for which she has contributed annually since 2010 with the last edition published in 2015, and "Earth Observation, Data Distribution" report released in 2014. Kammy has also validated findings of these reports with key stakeholders across the EO value-chain.

She has been the project manager of Euroconsult's 'Summit on Earth Observation Business' over the last four year, an international summit (30 countries) gathering over 250 executive-level participants covering the entire satellite-based Earth observation market.

Prior to joining Euroconsult, Kammy worked for Airbus Defense & Space headquarter in Paris, within the department of Strategy & New Business. She specialized in business development projects covering different EADS's business units including Airbus, Astrium, Eurocopter and Cassidian. Kammy has then joined former Astrium Service within the business growth department focusing in strategic analysis and market intelligence. She is originally from Hong Kong and trilingual in Chinese, English and French. She holds a Master's degree in international business in University Paris XII in France, a Bachelor degree in translation, specialized in international commercial law in University Paris VII in France, and a Bachelor degree in Applied Physic Engineering in Hong Kong.

With over 15 years of experience in the fields of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and GIS, Reida Elwannas oversees Rolta's Photogrammetry and GIS operations from Dubai. He is responsible for business development and responding to customers' inquiries, proposals, quotes and technical support needs.

Prior to Rolta, Reida worked at IIC Technologies (USA) between 2002 and 2006, where he founded the Geospatial Division and worked as Director, Geospatial Solutions. Today, this division functions as a centre of excellence, providing a complete array of photogrammetry solutions. He has also worked at various other reputed international organizations, including SPOT and Earthdata International, and was involved in the migration of the entire production workflow of EarthData. Reida is capable of supervising all types of mapping projects, right from inception to final product delivery, including the QA/QC steps.

Kees de Zeeuw is Director of Kadaster International at the Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency (Kadaster), The Netherlands. He holds an MSc degree in land and water management (1989). After long term contracts in Rwanda and Bolivia he has been working more than 10 years in environmental and geo-information sciences at Wageningen University and ResearchCentre. After being responsible at Kadaster for product and process innovation (2007 – 2010), he now is responsible for the coordination of Kadaster's international activities and international cooperation projects. Kadaster International provides world wide advisory services in the domain of land administration, e-governance, geo-information services and SDI. He is member of FIG commission 7 and representative of the Dutch geo-information sector at UN-GGIM.