The next meeting of the Work Group GMES/EO, of the Nereus Network, of the association of European Regions that use space technology, will take place in May on the island of São Miguel.

This meeting that will gather 31 participants was confirmed by the Regional Secretary for Science, Technology and Equipment, José Contente, responding to an invitation put forth by Nereus, this Friday, in Brussels.

In May, the work-group GMES/EO, which is led by the Azores and East Island will dedicate special attention to the prospects of core-services and end-users, resorting to data obtained from space technologies.

At this meeting, an inventory of the space technologies to be used by each Region will also be formulated.

The strategic position of the Region within the Nereus Association will enable it, moreover, to improve the planning and development of space-technology projects, based on information and financing sources available in Europe as well as the supervision of scientific studies about the dissemination of technological know-how and the provision of inputs for the European Commission.

The Azores are a founding member of the NEREUS Association and currently holds positions in its Directorate, ensuring that the archipelago is actively involved in its decision-making process.

The NEREUS Association gathers 22 European Regions, as effective members, and 17 institutions as associate members, among which four from the Azores, the second largest contribution of associates.