INGENIEUR
Space Technology Applications for
Transportation Management
In maritime and inland waterway sectors, space
technology and GIS applications are used to track,
control, container and ship-to-ship co-ordination,
port approach and navigation, ship-to-shore
co-ordination, shore-to-ship management and
calamity abatement. With more than 50,000 ships
around the world and 15,000 boats on EU inland
waterways, Galileo (Europe's own global navigation
satellite system), combined with GPS, can
contribute to a safer and more efficient navigation
because of better accuracy and availability. GNSS
applications in road transport cover much more
than in-car navigation: for instance, GNSS-based
toll collection systems allow for a more efficient
use of the road infrastructure, reducing both
traffic flow and adverse environmental effects.
Fleet management and logistics can also benefit
from the accuracy brought by the European
Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS)
and Galileo, by locating in real-time, trucks, buses,
taxis, etc. This helps optimize resources, facilitates
better fleet management and reduces time and
fuel consumption.
EXISTING REGIONAL CO-OPERATIVE
FRAMEWORKS
There is a growing concern about the expanding
digital gap between developed and developing
countries regarding access to space technology
and space-derived data and information. Even
with current efforts to develop the technology
and scientific methodologies to exploit space
observations, the existing gap between the
capabilities of developed and developing countries
effectively slows down both collaboration and coordination. The lack of scientific data in developing
countries and the inability to analyze the available
data represents a significant challenge. Making
valuable data available to developing countries
and forging stronger collaborations are two
methods to aid developing countries in building
local capacities. The cost of capacity building
(processing and analyzing data), however, is often
very high for developing countries (Barbiere,
2013). This clearly presents an opportunity
for regional co-operation - especially between
developed countries and developing countries.
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VOL62
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JUNE
20132015
During the Ministerial Conference on Space
Applications for Development in Asia and the
Pacific, held from September 19-24, 1994 in
Beijing, and endorsed by the Beijing Declaration on
Space Technology Applications for Environmentally
Sound and Sustainable Development in Asia
and the Pacific, a Regional Space Applications
Programme for Sustainable Development in Asia
and the Pacific (RESAP) was officially launched.
RESAP enhances regional co-ordination and cooperation through the promotion of effective
applications of space technology for sustainable
development in Asia Pacific. The programme
aims to directly assist developing members and
associate members of ESCAP by integrating
space technology applications into development
planning for achieving sustainable development
in the region.
In recent years, the activities under the RESAP
framework have been focusing on:
(a) providing near real-time satellite imagery to
countries affected by severe disasters;
(b) putting into operation regional co-operative
mechanism for drought monitoring and early
warning (the Regional Drought Mechanism);
(c) capacity building to address the main gaps
and emerging challenges to using space
technologies and GIS for disaster risk reduction
and sustainable development in developing
countries; and
(d) research and policy analysis on th