ICEO Activities and Organization

Building the Infrastructure

• Architecture: Co-chair - creating information access that everyone can use
• Standards: Standards lead and Best Practices lead - creating the basis for systems that can interoperate; GEO Standards Registry and Standards and Interoperability Forum led by IEEE
• User Interface Committee: Co-Chair - defining requirements and working with user communities
• Energy Community of Practice - addressing a ten year energy strategic plan to be completed fall 2007 including Demonstration Projects.
• Capacity Building: focusing on case studies for Earth observation application and decision making

Supporting Professional Growth and Capabilities

• JSTARS - a peer-reviewed Applications Journal for GEOSS
• ICEO Website - Site provides opportunities for volunteers and appreciation of ICEO activities
• Case Studies of successful applications
• Web-based Lecture Series and Global workshops with participation by developing countries

Public Outreach

• Earthzine - IEEE webzine on matters of Earth and our environment - for the non technical public
• Simulator/game - IEEE lead - Earth Information game focused on teenagers challenging them to use Earth information for societal benefits
• Video outreach - a GEOSS video for public distribution

ICEO Opportunities and Outcomes

Lead for GEOSS standards - IEEE is leading the program for interoperability standards for Earth information and systems. We have defined the Standards and Interoperability Forum as a standards facilitation body and have sponsored registries and means to access relevant standards Ten year Plan for Earth Observation - IEEE has supported the global community of nations to define and implement a 10 year strategy for Earth observation by bringing the technical expertise of our members to the GEO forum and committees. In some cases such as the renewable energy area, our work as the lead has set the precedent for other organizations in developing GEOSS.

Creating a global System of Systems - IEEE has acknowledged the increasing importance of system of systems engineering as globalization demands the integration of complex systems into efficient operational structures. GEOSS, as a multinational and broad reaching system of systems, is a very significant challenge for this engineering discipline. IEEE, with its position as Architecture and Data committee Co-chair and its leadership in standards, has provided both leadership and technical contributions in defining the architecture and operational characteristics of GEOSS.

Conference and Workshops - The ICEO in contribution with others has conducted sixteen workshops that have exposed the IEEE to a wide audience of international professionals in GEOSS fields that are related to and affected by IEEE technology development. The exposure afforded by these workshops enlightened a segment of professionals, many of whom are regional leaders that heretofore did not attend or appreciate the scope of IEEE technology involvement in both global Earth observation and other related engineering activities. By strategically coupling these workshops with major conferences we have increased the exposure far beyond what IEEE could have been done through stand alone meetings. The 2005-07 workshops locations include Korea, South Africa, China, France, USA, India, Costa Rica, and Chile. Workshops in 2008 will have a similar broad Geographic distribution.

Earthzine (public outreach) - looking beyond the professional community, branding the IEEE to the broader public in areas of direct concern to the public (e.g. climate change, energy, water, disaster response) will provide the IEEE with visibility and create potential interest in our services as a technical information resource for societal managers. This will also increase our recognition within major international NGOs that are addressing major societal issues. Earthzine is an IEEE web-based vehicle for outreach in the Earth information area. Eye-on-Earth - creating a game for teenagers which will capture their interest in engineering by showing them the direct impacts of the work we do on our quality of life. This will be an international contest for creating an Earth "simulator" that will be posed as a grand challenge for the younger generation. A validation phase is underway with DigiPen Institute of Technology. IEEE is providing technical co-leadership with DigiPen and will provide recognition at the end of the validation phase.

While engineers and scientists generally frame Outcomes in terms of products, ICEO is equally focused on outcomes of improving the professional skills and capabilities of our members, adding membership to IEEE and improving the abilities of our membership to work in the international and political environment. Further, ICEO is providing opportunities for participation of our members in their home regions, particularly in Regions 8, 9, and 10. Other outcomes are centered on the evolution of IEEE as an organization adapting to the new information age environment and the potential benefits of addressing key societal issues through the application of our engineering expertise. Some samples are given in the following text. IEEE Strategic evolution - the IEEE is addressing directions for the next decades as the world around us is changing. There are a series of major global issues as the population grows and we strive to improve the standards of living for the entire population. These challenges are in water, energy, the environment and others. As we look to these "grand challenges", ICEO has focused on the area of societal management and understanding the environment. It could represent a pilot program as we work to define and implement our future directions.

Content for Practicing Engineers - the ICEO is an applications-oriented effort that spans the totality of engineering concepts that are the lifeblood of practicing engineers. The design, development and implementation of this system of systems will bring to play a wide cross section of talent from many of IEEE Societies e.g. systems, remote sensing, computers, communications, standards, renewable energy, etc. Due to the location-specific nature of many GEOSS applications, it is desirable to engage IEEE members working within the various Sections on problems of regional importance. A focus on developing countries will enhance opportunities to expand membership in these regions. This initiative thus complements the IEEE focus on China.

Identification of Future Needs and Strategic input for IEEE-- GEOSS will be the overarching worldwide effort for the next decade in supporting data and information resource requirements for a wide range of critical societal impact areas. The technologies required to bring GEOSS to reality can be focal points for the IEEE for this and the next generation of engineers, both in the design and the operations phase of GEOSS. Critical areas of research and engineering will lead to associated educational and implementation efforts needed to accomplish this task. Outreach, both to the professional and to the broader population is a high priority, and will serve the purpose of capacity (i.e., "data market") building and education. A particularly interesting aspect of this could be the introduction of "certifications" for professionals in developing countries, a subject that is beyond the current scope of this initiative.

Developing Volunteers for Higher level Positions - There is a twofold aspect to this issue as we are already developing volunteers to fill high level positions within GEO. For example, IEEE volunteers have positions of GEO Architecture Committee co-chair, Chair of the Standards and Interoperability Forum, etc. These experiences facilitate the development of a pool of IEEE volunteers versed in international mores and negotiations, thereby leading to more qualified officers and committee members for the IEEE itself.

Leverage Expertise of Volunteers - Due to the international exposure that the IEEE volunteers participating in GEOSS experience and the technical demands of a complex system such as GEOSS, this effort will engage our members in significant challenges and stress their expertise. There are a plethora of excellent opportunities for professional growth. It is a logical extension that as they grow in experience, our members will be invited to meetings and symposia as featured speakers. Such events will further the impact of the IEEE on the technological and social aspects of our members' work.

To summarize the above benefits of the ICEO New Initiative and in the broader context of Strategies for IEEE, the ICEO objectives directly address the IEEE mission statement: "The IEEE promotes the engineering process of creating, developing, integrating, sharing, and applying knowledge about electro- and information technologies and sciences for the benefit of humanity and the profession.