[IGSMAIL-7024] Report from the 44th IGS Governing Board Meeting

[Urs Hugentobler]

Dear Colleagues,


At its 44th Meeting held on December 14, 2014, in San Francisco the IGS 
Governing Board elected Gary Johnston from Geoscience Australia to a 
four year term as Chair, starting on January 1, 2015. At the same 
meeting the election of Dr.-Ing. Rolf Dach (University of Bern, 
Switzerland) as Analysis Center Representative and Dr. Carine Bruyninx 
(Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels) as Network Representative by 
the IGS Associate Members was unanimously confirmed.

I would like to congratulate Gary, Rolf and Carine and at the same time 
sincerely thank the very strong candidates who made themselves available 
for the elections as the Chair and as Components Representatives. The 
IGS is fortunate to have such a pool of experts who are ready to serve 
the IGS in a responsible function.

At the 44th Meeting a number of important issues were discussed, including:

-- The updated Terms of Reference were approved by the Governing Board 
by email vote on October 15, 2014. A few editorial corrections were 
discussed at the Board Meeting. The Terms of Reference include an 
updated mission statement, install the Real-time Analysis Coordinator as 
a voting member of the Governing Board, and establish the position of a 
Chair-elect. Loukis Agrotis from ESOC/ESA, our current Real-time 
Analysis Coordinator, was welcomed to the Board.

-- The RINEX3 transition plan, prepared by the Infrastructure committee 
chaired by Nacho Romero, together with the Network Coordinator, Data 
Center Working Group and Multi-GNSS Working Group was endorsed by the 
Governing Board. The plan defines the steps required for a transition to 
long filenames for RINEX3 files in order to merge the MGEX data archive 
with the current IGS data archive. This is a prerequisite for the 
transition of the multi-GNSS IGS activities into routine operations. 
More information on the planned changes will be provided to the users 
and station operators.

-- No candidate for the next ACC could yet be identified. Main issue is 
the funding situation at the Analysis Centers. Alternative scenarios are 
being evaluated such as splitting the operational and the scientific 
tasks of the ACC. Plans are worked out to install the combination 
software at a central place. Despite this serious issue it can be 
reported that the development of a next-generation combination software 
is underway in a co-funded project by European Space Operations Centre 
(ESOC) and Astronomical Institute University of Bern (AIUB).

-- The Governing Board welcomed a proposal to install a global Data 
Center at the GNSS Research Center of Wuhan University, China. The IGS 
would in particular be interested in the access to tracking data from 
additional regional sites. The Governing Board considers an IGS Data 
Center in China an opportunity to allow improved data exchange, to reach 
a broader community of researchers in China, and to engage more research 
groups as future partners in the IGS.

-- Gary Johnston and Chris Rizos presented Sydney, Australia, as the 
location for the next IGS Workshop. The 2016 workshop will be hosted by 
University of New South Wales (UNSW) and will take place in the first 
quarter of 2016. This marks the first time in twenty years that the IGS 
Workshop will take place in both the Eastern and the Southern 
hemisphere. The Asia Pacific area is a current focus of emerging GNSS 
systems. It is thus appropriate to meet in this exciting part of the world.

I will step down as the Chair of the IGS Governing Board end of this 
year. It was an honor to be the Chair. These four years were very 
interesting and challenging, with two important projects being launched 
in this peroid, the Multi-GNSS Experiment and the IGS Real-time Service. 
I am looking forward to support the Governing Board as the Immediate 
Past Chair for the next year. But I will certainly continue to 
contribute to the IGS also after this period.

As outgoing Chair, I would like to thank all those associated with the 
IGS for their continuing effort and support. The IGS is an impressive 
organization, comprised of a large number of individuals from many 
institutions all over the world devoting their expertise and valuable 
time in an exemplary spirit of cooperation. New challenges and 
opportunities are ahead, and I wish the Governing Board and the new 
Chair all the best and much success in leading the IGS into an exciting 
future.

Best wishes, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Urs Hugentobler




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