Subject: GGOS Retreat 2007: Invitation for an IERS presentation
From: Hans-Peter Plag <[email-masked]>
To: Chopo Ma <[email-masked]>, Chopo Ma <[email-masked]>, Chopo Ma <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2006 09:36:19 -0800

Dear Chopo,

with this mail, I would like to follow up the
mail sent out by Markus Rothacher, the Chair of
the GGOS Steering Committee, which includes the invitation
to all IAG Services to give a presentation at the 2007 GGOS
Retreat. I would like to provide some questions of
the GGOS Executive Committee, which we hope the IERS can
address in that presentation.

Over the last two years, we (i.e. the IAG community)
have reached an agreement to work together in the frame
of GGOS for a common purpose. In a way, GGOS can be compared
to a big family representing the IAG community to the outside, for
example, in the context of GEO and IGOS-P. Acknowledging that
a wide range of Earth observation applications will be determined
in the future by the development of GEO, GGOS will increasingly
meet requirements to adhere to standards of GEO, which
need to be adopted inside the GGOS family. At the same
time, it will be in the interest of both the Services
and GGOS, to preserving some of the relationships between
the individual Services and the outside world.
Having this picture in mind, we would like to put forward
a few questions that should be addressed in the presentation:
- What is the role the IERS should and want to play in the
   GGOS family?
- What individual outside relations does the IERS want to
   continue independently of GGOS?
- Would the IERS be ready to implement and adhere to standards
   agreed upon in GGOS, both as a reaction of internal
   decisions and outside requirements?
- What does IERS expect from GGOS, and, in particular, what new
   functions would IERS like GGOS to fill?
- Where does IERS see the added value of GGOS as a family?

With respect to the GGOS 2020 Strategy process, we would like
IERS to consider the following questions:
- Does IERS agree with the organizational structure of GGOS as proposed
   in Chapter 9 (lead author Gerhard Beutler) of the Reference document
   or does IERS have comments and suggestions for improvements?
- What are your/IERS thoughts and comments concerning the technical
   components of GGOS as proposed in Chapter 8 (lead author: Markus
   Rothacher)?
- To which of these components would the IERS contribute?
- Does IERS find itself appropriately represented and described in
   the document?

With respect to standardization and the GGOS data portal, we would
appreciate to get your/IERS comments on the following aspects:
- What would be the appropriate level of standardization needed for a
   GGOS portal?
    - The data of all services should be linked through a common portal?
    - Only meta data should be made available at the GGOS portal?
    - Would IERS as a service be ready to comply to GGOS meta data
      standards to be delivered by the service with each product?
    - Should there be a common layout of web-pages for all the services
      contributing to GGOS?

We hope that these question will contribute to a constructive discussion
at the Retreat and thus continue the positive development
over the last years towards a strong, integrated geodetic community and
a GGOS indispensable for science, Earth observation and society at
large. We are looking forward to hear IERS's views on these questions.

Best regards

Hans-Peter Plag
for the GGOS Executive Committee