A one day workshop to discuss the future of COSSA (CSIRO Office of Space Science & Applications) was held on Tuesday 12th November at the COSSA office in Canberra (ANUTech Court). The aims of the workshop were to identify all of CSIRO's space science activities, current and future needs, and possible future roles of COSSA and the HoC directed to meeting those needs in a one-CSIRO way.

COSSA is a small, "one-CSIRO" unit of some years standing currently administered by CAR, located on the ANU Campus in Canberra, along with CSIRO's Earth Observation Centre (EOC). By end of 2002 COSSA/EOC will move to a new location in the Christian Building on CSIRO's Black Mountain site.

Under the direction of the COSSA Steering Committee of Chiefs the roles of Head of COSSA (HoC) and EOC Science Leader, previously held by one person, have been split into separate appointments. The new EOC Science Leader was recently appointed (Dr Michael Raupach). 

Prior to searching for a new Head of COSSA a broad review of CSIRO's needs in relation to national and international space sciences would be very beneficial, with the potential for the HoC role to broaden considerably to yield added value to a wider CSIRO constituency. Prospects might include combining the historical HoC "representation" and other roles with additional roles in national and international business development, and international key account management with major space agencies and other players.

Willem Bouma acted as the meeting facilitator. His summary report of the meeting is now available:

Report on the one-day workshop:
Purpose, function and future roles of COSSA


(Download the report as a Word document)

Agenda

Download a copy of the agenda .

9.30 am	Coffee on arrival
10.00 am	Introduction and Challenge (Greg Ayers)
10.15 am	Supershort presentations by researchers on COSSA Science and Business Development Opportunities: 1. Area of Science/Technology 2. Example/Application 3. Science Opportunities 4. Business Development Opportunities 5. Current Scale of effort across CSIRO The speakers are: David LB Jupp The current scope of COSSA activities Denis O'Brien Carbon trading Brian Embleton Satellite Engineering and Systems Applications Andrew Parfitt The Space & Satellite Communication Systems Team Gerry Haddad CDSCC (NASA tracking station at Tidbinbilla) Allan Adolphson Remote Sensing and Image Integration R&D (CMIS) Ian Barton Marine Matters Ian Barton Ideas for a future COSSA/Space Office. Kieran Greene Australia Telescope National Facility Jon Huntington International and National Hyperspectral Sensing in CSIRO Tim McVicar EO Opportunities in Environmental Monitoring, Agriculture Ecohydrology and Hydrology
11.30 am	Workshop: “Creating a COSSA Mudmap” (Willem Bouma)
12.30 pm	Lunch
1.00 pm	Comments from BD Participants: What have you heard, what grabs you, what do you need clarified? Implications for the Mudmap
2.00 pm	Table discussions: given the Mudmap, 1. What outcomes do we want from COSSA? 2. Role & Objectives of COSSA? 3. What model do we want for the Head of COSSA?
3.30 pm	Synthesis (Greg Ayers)
4.00 pm	Close

Supporting Documents

COSSA Activities 1998-2002 A Report by David L B Jupp A/Head of COSSA (Word (recommended) or PDF)

16th CEOS Plenary 2002, Frascati, Italy Member Report by CSIRO on behalf of Australia Ian J Barton, CSIRO Marine Research, Hobart David L B Jupp, COSSA, Canberra (Word or PDF)

An Australian Advanced Geostationary Satellite (AAGS) Report prepared by Peter Turner (CSIRO Atmospheric Research) and David Griersmith (Bureau of Meteorology) 10 May 2002 (Word or PDF )

List of attendees

Download a copy of this list

Dave Abel	CSIRO CMIS
Allan Adolphson	CSIRO CMIS
Greg Ayers	Atmospheric Research
Ian Barton	Marine Research
Cherylann Biegler	Corporate Groups
Willem Bouma	Atmospheric Research
Peter Burton	CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship
Nicholas Coops	Forestry and Forest Products
Bisun Datt	COSSA/EOC
Brian Embleton	CRC for Satellite Systems
Kate Gradwell	CSIRO OCE
Kieran Greene	CTIP/ATNF
Gerry Haddad	Telecommunications and Industrial Physics
Alex Held	Land and Water
Jon Huntington	Exploration and Mining
David Jauncey	ATNF
David Jupp A/g	COSSA/EOC
Allen Kearns	Sustainable Ecosystems
Edward King	COSSA/EOC
Peter Lewis	CSIRO Office of Business Development and Commercialisation
Tim McVicar	Land and Water
Ross Mitchell	COSSA/EOC
Denis O'Brien	Atmospheric Research
Andrew Parfitt	Telecommunications and Industrial Physics
Michael Raupach	COSSA/EOC
Lew Whitbourn	Exploration and Mining

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