Jean-Yves Le Gall, who has been involved in the IAF’s activities for many years, took over his position as IAF President at the IAC 2016 in Guadalajara, Mexico. On Friday 14 October, he convened a press conference at the CNES Headquarters in Paris to present his plan and strategic goals for developing the IAF. He also presented the details of his IAF Global Innovation Agenda for 2016-2019, based on three main principles: preserving the IAF heritage and building on its existing strengths; listening and opening up to the world; plus preparing the future and Connecting @ll Space People.
The IAF’s strategic roadmap for the next three years will focus on seven key points:
· Reach out to Emerging Countries and Connect with New Communities
· Foster the Principles of “3-G” Diversity within the Space Sector (Gender, Generation, Geography)
· Evolution of the International Astronautical Congress with a View to Sustainability and Future Growth
· Global and Regional Conferences
· Relations and Interaction with IAF Partner Organizations
· Evolution of IAF Funding Structure
· Lead the IAF into the Future through Innovative Projects
The IAF Global Innovation Agenda 2016-2019 will serve as a beacon to take the IAF into a new era. It will transform it into the instrument required to lead the space community towards a more inclusive world.
During the press conference, Jean-Yves Le Gall also reported on the resounding success of the IAC 2016 in Guadalajara, with a record number of 5,217 delegates and an exciting technical and plenary programme with top-level speakers. The main theme of the last IAC was the discussion on Mars, led by NASA (Charles Bolden), SpaceX (Elon Musk) and Lockheed Martin. The IAC was a huge media success and was widely shared on social media and amongst the younger generation.
IAC 2016 also saw the election of four new IAF Vice Presidents: Pascale Ehrenfreund, Chair of the Board DLR; Jan Wörner, Director General, ESA; Clayton Mowry, Lead – Sales, Marketing & Customer Experience, Blue Origin; and Sergey Krikalev, Executive Director of Piloted Spaceflights, ROSCOSMOS.
The press conference ended with a look at the future, through a presentation by Peter Nikoloff, IAC 2017 Local Organizing Committee member, on the 68th International Astronautical Congress due to take place in Adelaide, Australia from 25-29 September 2017. Preparations are well under way and Australia is eager to play host to the international space community.
