The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is holding a five-day workshop on the applications of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 15 May. The workshop aims to increase awareness among decision and policy-makers of the benefits of satellite navigation technology and develop regional and national pilot projects in GNSS. More than 100 participants from 30 countries will also address recent developments in global navigation and discuss national programmes on GNSS applications.
Satellite navigation technology offers Eurasian countries cost-effective means of achieving sustainable development goals in the region through strengthening many sectors, such as aviation, maritime and land transportation, mapping and surveying, environmental monitoring, precision agriculture and natural resources management, disaster warning and emergency response.
Since 2001, UNOOSA has organized a series of regional workshops and international meetings to promote the global use of GNSS, particularly for the benefit of developing countries. A major outcome of those workshops was the establishment of the International Committee on GNSS (ICG), an informal and voluntary forum that enables GNSS service providers and major user groups to discuss GNSS matters with a view to encouraging compatibility and interoperability among various satellite systems and increasing the use of
GNSS to benefit people around the world.
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) implements the decisions of the General Assembly, the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its two Subcommittees, the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee. The Office promotes international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space and assists developing countries in using space science and technology. UNOOSA also serves as the Executive Secretariat of the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG). Located in Vienna, Austria, OOSA maintains a website at www.unoosa.org
