The Regional Secretary for Science, Technology and Infrastructures presided over the opening session of the GMES/EO (Global Monitoring Environmental for Security/Earth Observation) group meeting, which took place on Friday morning. This meeting congregated the representatives of the seven European Regions that use space technology during Friday.
At the opening session, José Contente welcomed the participants of the meeting and reinforced the interest as well as the commitment of the Region in scientific projects at a global scale, such as the ESA (European Space Agency) station on Santa Maria.  
“These sectoral meetings, the first of which is taking place in the Azores, are a sign that the Region has a position among these seven regions that are represented here and in the reports that will be delivered to the European Union and that result from these meetings,” stressed José Contente in a statement to the media.
The meeting of the GMES/EO of NEREUS, one of the four workgroups of this association dedicated to the Earth Observation and led by East End and the Azores, will discuss and analyse issues related to climate change, the Galileo project, the position of the association regarding these new scientific realities and also issues related to climatology and maritime safety, among others.
“It is a technical discussion that enables the analysis of themes and the approach of situations concerning the Galileo project, a very important project for Europe in whose development the Azores want to take part,” stated José Contente.
The Secretary reinforced the relevance of this meeting, given the fact that it congregates technically-qualified personalities responsible for the documents that will be later delivered to the European Commission, defending the position of the regions that compose each NEREUS workgroup.
At the end of the meeting with the members of GMES/EO, the Regional Secretary also mentioned the three scientific investigation centres in the field of space technology, “the European Space Agency on Santa Maria, a project that has become a reality and a structuring project that enabled the integration of the Azores in the NEREUS association” and other two projects on climatology, the PICO-NARE, a project to observe the land in altitude, and another climatology station for weather observation on Graciosa.
The strategic position of the Region in the NEREUS Association enables a better planning and the development of projects on space technologies, based on information and on the available European funding sources, as well as the supervision of scientific studies regarding projects to disseminate the knowledge on space technology and on inputs for the European Commission.
One should remember that the Azores are a founding member of the NEREUS, an association that currently congregates 22 European Regions, and are currently a member of the Board, something which enables an active presence with regard to decision-making.