By Santosh Digal
Manila: India is set to host the 24th Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum this year.
The November 14-17 meet at Bengaluru, capital of Karnataka state, has chosen as its theme, “Space Technology for Enhanced Governance and Development.”
It will feature working group discussions for countries to share activities and plans on topics ranging from Space Applications, Space Technology, Space Environment Utilization, and Space Education, Ruby R. Cristobal, chief Science Research Specialist at the Science Education Institute of Department of Science and Technology for the Philippines, told Matters India.
The highlights of the conference include water rocket event, Space Applications for Environment (SAFE) workshop, space policies for the Asia-Pacific region, space for future society and exhibition, besides other activities, she said.
The aim of SAFE is to contribute to the solution to many environmental problems with space technology. Asia-pacific region has various environmental problems such as climate change and rapid industrial development with economic growth. The use of space technology (especially satellite data) enables wide and long-term monitoring of environmental change, which leads to the lower risk of environmental change and the solution of environmental problems.
According to Cristobal, the plenary sessions will be chaired by A S Kiran Kumar, secretary, Department of Space , India and chairperson of the Indian Space Research Organisation; and Mami Oyama, deputy director general, Research and Development Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.
The conference is being co-organized by Department of Space and Indian Space Research Organisation from India, and from Japan: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
It will also be supported by the following organizations: India: Indian Society of Remote Sensing, Bangalore Chapter, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Department of Science and Technology, Antrix Corporation Limited (planned), Japan: Japan Meteorological Agency, Japan International Cooperation Agency and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.
Established in 1993, the forum is the largest space-related conference in the Asia-Pacific region. It brings together people from various space agencies, governmental bodies, international organizations, private companies, and universities from over 40 countries and regions to discuss and enhance international cooperation for space activities within the region.
The Philippines hosted the annual meet last year.