Socio-economic benefit (SEB) studies play an important role in supporting national and intergovernmental approval processes for satellite programmes by demonstrating the significant scientific and economic value of observations generated by satellites monitoring the Earth system.
The main purpose of SEB studies is generally to provide stakeholders, policymakers and decision-makers with the justification needed to understand and support new satellite programmes. SEB inputs are often crucial for securing approval of national budgets for satellite systems and for maintaining political support for the global observing system effort.
SEB studies also play a broader role in engaging a wider range of stakeholders and demonstrating the value of satellite systems to national and international organisations, user communities and the general public. This is generally reflected in the provision of improved downstream services, which ultimately depend on the availability of state-of-the-art satellite observations.
Recognising that it is neither possible nor practical to adopt a single best-practice methodology for SEB studies that would be suitable for all CGMS agencies, CGMS focuses on sharing individual agency experiences, practices and outputs from SEB studies. CGMS is developing a repository of Case Studies, which may be useful for sharing information and demonstrating the benefits of bilateral efforts between CGMS members.
CGMS will maintain close coordination with the World Meteorological Organization’s efforts to document the overall socio-economic value of global Earth system monitoring efforts, in particular WIGOS.
Studies
CGMS Socio-economic Benefits Tiger Team (SETT)
The CGMS established the Socioeconomic Benefits Tiger Team (SETT) at the 41st plenary session of CGMS in order to develop credible methodology and common terminology for articulating the socio-economic benefit of satellite observing systems, and explore the most effective ways to communicate this information to desired stakeholders (SETT Terms of Reference).
The SETT produced a Guidance Document to aid CGMS Members considering conducting a socioeconomic benefit study, available here.
For additional information on the SETT, please read the Summary of the third CGMS SETT Workshop (7 October 2015) held at the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) in Paris, France.
In addition you can access the Summary of the second CGMS SETT Workshop (January 2015), and the SETT Progress Report (July 2014). SETT-related studies and presentations are available here for review.
The SETT provided:
- a presentation on “Understanding and Assessing the Value of Improved Satellite Data for the Users of Operational Sea Ice Products and Information” at the 2016 GEOValue Data to Decisions Workshop on 10-11 March 2016, at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France; and on “Measuring the Value of Environmental Satellites: An International Effort” on 14 January 2016 during the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
The SETT activities have in the meantime been concluded.