UNIS/OS/355
3 September 2007

International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG) To Meet in Bangalore, India

VIENNA, 3 September 2007 (UN Information Service) - The International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG) will hold its second meeting from 6 to 7 September in Bangalore, India, organized and hosted by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), to review and discuss Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and their promising applications. These applications include safety and economic development, particularly the efficiency and safety of transport, search and rescue, geodesy, land management and sustainable development. The ICG will address the use of the applications to promote the enhancement of universal access to, space-based navigation and positioning systems as well as their compatibility and interoperability. It will also address the integration of these services into national infrastructures, particularly in developing countries. The Vienna-based United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) serves as the secretariat of the committee.

Following its establishment by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in December 2005, the ICG meets annually. It held its first meeting in November 2006 in Vienna to adopt its terms of reference and work plan that currently includes: Compatibility and Interoperability, Enhancement of performance of GNSS services, Information Dissemination, Interaction with National and Regional Authorities and Relevant International Organizations, and Coordination.

As an informal, voluntary forum where governments and interested non-government entities can discuss matters regarding GNSS on a worldwide basis, the ICG represents a unique combination of GNSS service providers and major user groups, that seek to encourage compatibility and interoperability among the various satellite systems, while increasing their use in developing countries to raise standards of living and to protect the environment. The establishment of this international committee is a result of the recommendations of the "Vienna Declaration: Space Millennium for Human Development", that was adopted by the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, held in Vienna in 1999.

Currently, the following countries, international organizations and entities participate in the ICG: China, India, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, the Russian Federation, the United States, the Bureau international des poids et measures (BIPM), the Civil GPS Service Interface Committee (CGSIC), the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), the European Community, the European Position Determination System (EUPOS), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Fédération internationale des géomètres (FIG), the International Association of Geodesy (IAG), the International Association of Institutes of Navigation (IAIN), the International Cartographic Association (ICA), the International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), the International GNSS Service (IGS), the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Union radio-scientifique internationale (URSI), and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).

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The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA), that currently also serves as the secretariat of the  International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems, implements the decisions of the General Assembly and of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its two Subcommittees, the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee. The Office is responsible for promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, and assisting developing countries in using space science and technology. Located in Vienna, Austria, OOSA maintains a website at http://www.unoosa.org/

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For information, please contact:

Romana Kofler
Associate Programme Officer
Telephone: +43 1 26060-4962
E-mail: romana.kofler@unvienna.org

or

Secretariat, International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
PO Box 500, 1400 Vienna, Austria
Phone: +43 1 26060 5479
Fax: +43 1 26060 5830
E-mail: oosa@unvienna.org
Web: http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/SAP/gnss/icg.html