The Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the European Space Agency, and the European Commission are jointly organising the Copernicus – Sentinels Serving Society Conference – that will be held at the EVGENIDIS Foundation in Athens, Greece, from 12 to 13 May 2014. 

The conference focuses on how information through Europe’s Copernicus programme can be used for taking informed decisions to improve public services and businesses with socio-economic and environmental considerations in mind.  This conference will allow participants to learn more how data of this new mission can be used for various applications.

In the framework of this conference, NEREUS – the Network of European Regions Using Space Technologies – with the support of the Apulian Aerospace District (DTA) and of the Hellenic Association of Space Industries (HASI) is organising a side events “Space4Regions: Satellite solutions as a driver for Innovation and Growth”.

This Space4Regions event continues the dialogue started during the international conference Space4You, held in Bari last February, and organised by NEREUS and Apulia Region. It will give regions, regional stakeholder, policy makers and cluster representatives a platform to share their views and exchange best practices. Moreover, with the first of the Sentinel satellites recently launched, this event will highlight the dimension of Copernicus in the context of regional development and regional policies touching upon innovation, SME-support, economic growth, qualified employment.

“The Apulia Aerospace Cluster » explains Giovanni Sylos Labini, CEO of Planetek and BoD of the Apulian Space Cluster, « is very excited in participating to this event in Athens that will open new perspectives for interregional cooperation and will create the opportunity to exploit the long standing proximity between Apulia and Greeks Regions”. “In the technical session dedicated to the best practices” adds Giovanni Sylos Labini “we will present our successful cooperation with Areospace Valley, the Midi-Pyrénées Cluster, and also the microsatellite SHIRA, a High-resolution InfraRed Satellite Application. This mission is entirely promoted and realized by a consortium of Apulian companies including Planetek and Sitael. Our support at the Space4Regions event shows that a solid fil rouge connects the Space4You conference with this event in Athens, and Planetek Italia and Planetek Hellas are proud to be part of it ».

This event together with the results of Space4you will pave the way for a reinforced action towards a continuous and systematic use of space in European Regions. NEREUS and Apulia Region began to combine their strengths in content, networks and capacities to build a concrete strategy to highlight how satellite solutions can bring benefits to regions, their territories, companies and citizens.