Annex 2

The Rules of Procedures of the Asia-Oceania GEOSS Initiative (draft)

1 PARTICIPATION IN THE ASIA-OCEANIA GEOSS INITIATIVE All Member States and Participating Organizations in GEO with a mandate and/or interest in, or be a user of Earth Observations, information or services may participate in the Asia-Oceania GEOSS Initiative (hereafter as AOGEOSS).

2 GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE

2.1 Principles The Principles of the Governance Structure of the Initiative are as follows: a. Inclusiveness: All GEO Members and Participating Organization in the Asia-Oceania Region are encouraged to participate in the structure. Non-Member countries are also welcome to participate. b. Voluntary Contributions: All involvement of AOGEOSS activities are conducted on a voluntary basis. All members and partners could take advantage of its strength to achieve the initiative objectives with joint efforts in line with the implementation plan of the Initiative. c. Balance: Balance between developed and developing countries, as well as provider communities and user communities, will be considered in the composition of the Governance Structure. d. Best Efforts: The Initiative should leverage the existing coordination mechanisms to the largest extent possible to achieve Pareto optimality, i.e., no one individual country is made worse off in the proposed structure.

2.2 Governance Structure a. Asia-Oceania Caucus Meeting - the decision-making body consisting of GEO Principals in the Asia-Oceania Region. It provides high-level political support and necessary resources to implement the AOGEOSS Initiative. b. Coordination Board - the executive management body consisting of experts on technology and management. c. GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium - the regional forum to exchange broad scientific and technical views on Earth observations and their applications as well as to report progress of tasks in the AOGEOSS Initiative.

d. Task Group(s) - the group(s) to implement task(s) agreed in the Initiative. e. Secretariat – the body responsible for ensuring effective governance and communication arrangements of the Initiative.

3 THE ROLE OF ASIA-OCEANIA CAUCUS

3.1 Duties The Asia-Oceania Caucus will: a. Receive GEO Member States’ and approve of GEO Participating Organizations’ participation in the Initiative; b. Decide Members of the Coordination Board; c. Approve the Rule of Procedures of the Initiative; and d. Review reports from the Coordination Board, endorse updates on the Initiative and provide guidance to the Initiative implementation.

3.2 Decision The Asia-Oceania Caucus works on the duties shown in 3.1 by consensus of GEO Members present in the Asia-Oceania region.

3.3 Meetings The Asia-Oceania Caucus meets physically at least once per annum. The meeting will be held at either the GEO Plenary or at the GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium. Meeting documents will be available at least four weeks prior to a meeting to allow the required national/internal consultation process to occur.

3.4 Reporting Reports on the results of the Asia-Oceania Caucus will be provided for the Participants of the Initiative within two weeks of each meeting, including a list of all participants and key outcomes.

4 COORDINATION BOARD

4.1 Function The Coordination Board bridges political and technical areas, provides guidance and connects AOGEOSS objectives to implementation.

4.2 Duties The Coordination Board will: a. Define mission, goals, long-term plans and policies of AOGEOSS and its action plan; b. Ensure sustainability of the initiative by defining resources; c. Communicate direction and activities of AOGEOSS to the GEO community; and d. Report to the Caucus, observe the Initiative implementation between Caucus Meetings, and assemble the AOGEOSS Annual Report based on progress updates from Task Groups.

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The Coordination Board may: a. Make recommendations on new tasks of the Initiative to the Asia-Oceania Caucus; and b. Establish subsidiary bodies to support the administrative affairs or other specific activities.

4.3 Term The Coordination Board will serve for the duration of the Asia-Oceania GEOSS Initiative.

4.4 Members The Coordination Board comprises no fewer than 12 and no more than 15 Members, who are experts serving as the representative of GEO Members in the Asia-Oceania region.

4.5 Leadership The Coordination Board will select four of its members to serve as co-chairs. The co-chairs should come from GEO Members in the Asia-Oceania region.

4.6 Decisions The Coordination Board works by Members' consensus. At least 50 per cent attendance is required for a quorum.

4.7 Meetings The Coordination Board meets physically at least once per annum. The meetings are generally held at either the GEO Plenary or at the GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium for convenience. Teleconferences may be convened by the co-chairs of the Coordination Board as needed. Meeting documents will be available at least four weeks prior to a meeting to allow the required national/internal consultation process to occur.

4.8 Reporting The Coordination Board will provide a report for the Participants of the Initiative within two weeks of each meeting, including a list of all participants and key outcomes.

4.9 Funding Costs arising from the Coordination Board’s activities will be borne by participants.

4.10 Support and Coordination The Members and Participating Organizations of the Initiative will assign contact persons to provide administrative support to the Coordination Board.

5 GEOSS ASIA-PACIFIC SYMPOSIUM The GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium is a regional forum to exchange broad scientific and technical views on Earth observations and their applications as well as to report progress on tasks in the AOGEOSS Initiative. The GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium is held annually by Japan, a host country and the GEO Secretariat. At a minimum, the member of Coordination Board will be present (and meet) during the GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium. Guidelines for the GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium are attached as Annex A.

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6 TASK GROUPS Each Task Group should have experts from at least three Asia-Oceania countries and select two to four co-chairs. Rules of Task Groups are decided by each Task Group. Task Groups may be recommended by GEO Members and Participating Organizations in the Asia-Oceania region or GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium as necessary. Task Groups will conduct much of their work over teleconferences and emails. They meet physically at least once per annum at the GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium or GEO Plenaries. Members of Task group are encouraged to participate in GEO Work Programme Symposium and GEO Plenaries. Task Groups will provide progress updates to the Coordination Board who assembles the AOGEOSS Annual Report.

7 SECRETARIAT Secretariat will support the Coordination Board.

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