Setting out the roadmap for future education, research and innovation activities to ensure that Europe takes full advantage of emerging opportunities for Galileo, GNSS and their applications in navigation

Introduction

Galileo presents significant economic opportunities and major changes in many navigation applications such as landing aircraft, controlling trains, controlling road vehicles as well as a range of other professional and mass market activities.

Such opportunities, and the economic benefits that flow from them, can only be realised with:

• Workforce skills - resulting from suitable education
• An advanced knowledge base - fed by progressive research
• Dynamic and creative application development - through innovation and technology transfer

Europe needs to ensure that the right mechanisms are employed to ensure that these foundations are in place.  If it does not, it is certain that competitors elsewhere in the world will derive the benefits of the Galileo system that Europe has funded.  It is the purpose of this study - Education, Research and Innovation in GNSS (ERIG) - to set out the roadmap for future education, research and innovation activities to ensure that Europe does succeed in this.

A consortium of fourteen European partners will undertake the ERIG study and make recommendations that will inform the detailed definition of the Galileo activities in the 7^th Framework Programme. The project runs from October 2006 to December 2007.

Project objectives

• assess actions to be taken to develop Education, Research & Development and Innovation/technology transfer (ERI) in the field of GNSS in Europe;
• better understand the specific dynamics between ERI and economic growth in the field of GNSS.

Key activities

• Establish the current situation within Education, R&D and Innovation in GNSS (including priority applications in navigation);
• Analyse the interactions between Education, R&D and Innovation in GNSS and how they might be developed to deliver social and economic benefits;
• Compare the situation with other technologies that have been through similar growth cycles;
• Compare the situation with geographical areas outside of Europe;
• From the above information, derive recommendations to promote greater awareness through education, R&D and innovation/technology transfer.

Consulting with GNSS stakeholders

A critical part of the ERIG study is the involvement of key stakeholders in Galileo and GNSS. Active players in this field - educators, research institutions, industry, innovation support agencies and government bodies - will be invited to participate in various outreach activities:

Workshop 1: April 2007

This workshop will review the data collected on:

• existing education and training courses covering Galileo, GNSS and their application in navigation
• high level research activities in these areas
• innovation and technology transfer mechanisms

Early analysis findings will be presented by the ERIG consortium and stakeholders will be invited to provide feedback, suggest areas for further exploration and highlight key conclusions at this stage in the study.

Workshop 2: October 2007

The second workshop will review Recommendations made for each of the three ERIG study areas - Education, Research and Innovation - and invite stakeholder feedback.  Overall conclusions and General Recommendations will also be discussed.

Industry Needs Analysis

A range of companies across Europe will be invited to provide information on their likely needs in the near future for GNSS-related workforce skills, continuing professional learning, access to near-market R&D and innovation/technology transfer support.

Ongoing feedback

The ERIG consortium welcomes contact via email or this website with any individual or organisation that wishes to contribute:

• information about their GNSS-related activities (education, research)
• information about innovation support activities which could be relevant for the GNSS/Navigation community
• information about up-coming events relevant to ERIG
• feedback on issues raised during the study

Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  in the first instance.