Project Overview

To date, GMES has made good progress in building user communities and in developing prototype services to meet the specific needs of each community. This is particularly true for the so-called “Fast Track Services”, whose definition, progress and road map have been reviewed at European level in Autumn 2005. However, if GMES is to evolve into a viable and valued activity, meeting the needs of Europe’s decision makers for timely, accurate and relevant information related to critical environmental and security topics, a number of key issues need to be recognised, analysed and resolved.

BOSS4GMES aims to do precisely this, and thereby play a major role in the operationalisation of GMES. The key targeted challenges are:

• To provide rationale for GMES and demonstrate reliable production capabilities for services over large areas. This will enable decision making for the implementation of GMES Fast Track Services and Pilot Services as soon as possible
• To improve integration/interoperability between GMES service structures and architectures and to optimise the operating costs
• To define appropriate contracting principles and operational structures (trusted networks of services providers and independent QA controlled services)
• To raise awareness amongst political decision makers and the general public in the nature of GMES and the benefits it will bring

To resolve these issues, BOSS4GMES will focus upon three pillars of activity.

1. It will support the development of the three fast-track services (ocean, land and emergencies) and analyse the potential for synergies between current GMES services and will recommend the resulting optimal operational processes for and between those services, illustrating the resulting benefits through service operations of each of the EC specified “fast track” service topics.
2. It will define, study and test options for the most appropriate funding mechanisms, business models and organisational structures, mainly for the three fast-track services, and check how these findings can be applied to other GMES services.
3. It will aim to build awareness of, and support for, the fast-track services and GMES as a whole amongst all its potential stakeholders in Europe and beyond. BOSS4GMES aims to leverage the knowledge and experience of many existing service providers and users, augmented by experts in the fields of financial and organisational analysis and in communications/lobbying to ensure that the project aims are met.