report of the action team on global navigation satellite systems (gnss)

portal could become part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> web site <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Office for Outer Space Affairs, to be maintainedby <strong>the</strong> Office in co-operation with <strong>the</strong> international committee.B. Recommendations regarding institutional framework addressed to <strong>the</strong> UnitedNations Office for Outer Space AffairsInstitutional models and capacity-buildingRecommendation 1. The United Nations should continue to hold regional workshops.552. The United Nations regional workshop series has been helpful to service providers as ameans <strong>of</strong> collecting inputs from users. The workshops have been also useful as a means <strong>of</strong>promoting <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> GNSS and <strong>the</strong>ir augmentations in developing countries. Therefore, <strong>the</strong>workshops should continue in <strong>the</strong> same manner with a focus on user input. Conductingworkshops in connection with well-attended international GNSS meetings may also be desirable.Recommendation 2. Support should be given for <strong>the</strong> establishment <strong>of</strong> national (and perhapseven regional) GNSS planning and co-ordination groups.553. Appropriate organizational models and best practices should also be provided.Recommendation 3. An assessment <strong>of</strong> current institutional models should be commissioned.554. Assess international co-operation and co-ordination, and identify those models withpotential applicability to evolving GNSS systems and services. Careful consideration should begiven to flexible, informal mechanisms and existing organizations that already attempt to provideinformational services for GNSS users.555. There is loose organization at <strong>the</strong> national level with regard to provider-user coordinationand no single organization that assumes end-to-end responsibility for GNSS.Applications are <strong>of</strong>ten fragmented and developments are underfunded. There is a lack <strong>of</strong>knowledge and understanding at high decision-making levels on how to utilise <strong>the</strong> newtechnology and incorporate appropriate processes at <strong>the</strong> organizational level. Clearly, <strong>the</strong>re is aneed to improve communications between service providers and decision-makers to demonstrate<strong>the</strong> cost-effectiveness <strong>of</strong> GNSS technology by showing examples <strong>of</strong> applications and solutions toproblems.556. The main difficulty is to find common interest with specialists in various fields, e.g.aeronautics, marine, land navigation, mobile robots, etc. Efforts are required to unify anapproach to navigation and positioning to optimise synergy that will include many diverseapplications and users.Recommendation 4.Support should be provided for capacity building for GNSS educationand training.557. The regional conferences have identified <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong>re are very few experts in thisnew technology, particularly in <strong>the</strong> least developed nations <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world. This underscores <strong>the</strong>need to:102