Australia's governments from local to national levels, and almost all forms of industry are now reliant on information obtained from earth observation satellites. This presentation outlines how Earth Observation has become an essential, national critical infrastructure for our economy and society, and why it is currently at risk. The extent of government and industry use of earth observation are outlined, highlighting critical dependencies. Highly effective approaches to developing:(1) collaborative national research infrastructure; (2) research to operational programs for government environmental monitoring; (3) private-public partners ships; and (4) national coordination for strategic industry and government development, are presented. These approaches provide a basis for explaining the "Space Industry" development approach being taken by Australia's new space agency. Examples covered are taken from vegetation monitoring and management, horticulture and agriculture, power and water infrastructure, and coral reefs. 

Bio:

Stuart Phinn is a professor of Geography at the University of Queensland where he teaches remote sensing and directs the Remote Sensing Research Centre www.rsrc.org.au  , which includes programs recognised as world’s best practice, to support government agencies across Australia using EO data www.jrsrp.org.au .  Stuart’s research and teaching interests use airborne and satellite data sets for measuring and monitoring environmental changes and publishing/sharing ecosystem data. This work is done in collaboration with other environmental scientists, government environmental management agencies, NGO’s and private companies. He directs  the national earth observation coordination body, Earth Observation Australia and lead development of its recent Decadal Community Plan, www.eoa.org.au  . He publishes extensively with his collaborators, and currently has 190 papers in refereed international journals, 1 book, an on-line textbook, and 12 book chapters. A large part of this work also involves training the next generation of scientists and managers who effectively use remote sensing, and has graduated 42 PhD students.