Copernicus Relays user uptake Roles and responsibilities of the Copernicus Relays The European Commission has launched two Networks, the Copernicus Relays and the Copernicus Academy, to contribute to spreading awareness and knowledge about Copernicus across and outside the EU. These Networks will be assisted in their journey by the Copernicus Support Office. The Copernicus Relays will play a key role by promoting Copernicus as a sustainable source of full, free, open and reliable information to meet the needs of National/regional/local public services, as well as a booster for the development of services with high commercial potential by local entrepreneurs. The Relays will ultimately contribute to increase Copernicus awareness at the national, regional and local level, and in some cases, also at national level. While no EU funding is currently available for these Networks per se, the European Commission finances their animation through the Copernicus Support Network. The European Commission will also make available several kinds of financial instruments to the members of the networks (notably through our start-up initiative, COSME or the forthcoming Framework Partnership Agreement for user uptake), as well as non-financial support (e.g. communication materials, trainings, webinars ). The Identify Card of the Copernicus Relays is shown below. Copernicus Relays are requested to provide the European Commission with Yearly Action Plans. They are also invited to perform some additional tasks on a voluntary best effort basis, and depending on the interest and resources available within their organisation. The full list of envisaged roles and responsibilities can be found in the annex. Targets Earth Observation (EO), IT Actors Copernicus User Uptake national, regional and local stakeholders/multipliers Suggested tasks Coordination at national, regional, and local level Communication and dissemination One-stop-shop Copernicus Information Point, and hotline at national, regional and local level Promotion, event and training sessions organisation Focus Helpdesk/information point Coordination and animation of the national, regional and local networks 1 Outcome To promote Copernicus as a sustainable source of full, free, open and reliable information to meet the needs of public services To promote Copernicus as sustainable source of full, free, open, and reliable data for the development of services with high commercial potential by local entrepreneurs Knowledge areas to boost Benefits of EO data for the domains not directly linked to space IT and data exploitation The Copernicus Support Office can be reached through email, telephone, and live chat on the support.copernicus.eu website. It will make tools available to the Relays to support their efforts in promoting and fostering uptake of Copernicus data and services. 1 When there is only one relay per MS, the coordination and animation will also take place at National level
Annex to the Copernicus Relays factsheet Copernicus Relays Role and Responsibilities (Details) THE COPERNICUS RELAY IDENTITY CARD Targets Earth Observation and IT Actors Copernicus User Uptake national, regional and local stakeholders/multipliers Focus Helpdesk/information point Coordination and animation at national, regional or local level 2 Knowledge areas to boost Benefits of EO data for a wide range of domains, including those not directly linked to space IT and data exploitation Desired outcomes of the Copernicus Relay Network To promote Copernicus as a sustainable source of full, free, open and reliable information to meet the needs of regional/ local public services To promote Copernicus as sustainable source of full, free, open, and reliable data for the development of environmental services with high commercial potential by local entrepreneurs Suggested tasks for the Relays Coordinate activities at regional/local level in their respective areas of influence 2 Promote Copernicus at relevant events organised at national, regional or local level Distribute dissemination material as provided by the European Commission, for example distributing and disseminating material at relevant events and fora with the aim of having the maximum impact for raising Copernicus awareness If deemed appropriate/necessary, create and run a hotline in the national language for anyone interested in obtaining information about Copernicus, and develop physical one-stop-shops to act as Copernicus Information Points Organise Copernicus promotional events either fully funded by the Relays themselves or co-funded by national, regional, local authorities or the European Commission and its Copernicus Entrusted Entities. The Support Office will offer support to the organisation. Organise targeted training sessions for relevant stakeholders which could benefit from the Programme. This could cover the whole spectrum of potential Copernicus users (such as public authorities, academia, specific private sector SMEs, etc.) and decision-makers at all levels of government Suggested final deliverable to foster the cooperation and cross-fertilisation among Relays Yearly Action Plan delivered to the Support Office ideally 90 days before the anniversary of the date at which the member received the Relay label (required in order to be eligible for the renewal of the labelling) 2 When there is only one relay per MS, the coordination and animation will be also be performed at National level 1
List of suggested tasks for the Relays The European Commission has identified a list of suggested tasks for the Relays to be carried out on a voluntary best effort basis. For each category there are core (priority tasks), to which each Relay is advised to contribute to. Other tasks are also listed as examples of additional activities which would also greatly support the Copernicus user uptake and awareness. The list of suggested tasks includes for example: 1. Coordinating activities at regional and local level 3 (core task) a. Ensure the coordination of Copernicus-related activities developed in their respective areas of influence and competence. b. Complete and update the mapping of Copernicus-related existing and future activities related to Copernicus user uptake (leveraging the EC study that will be distributed to the Relays by the Support Office) 2. Promotion activity a. Regular distribution of up-to-date Copernicus dissemination material b. Promotion of Copernicus at relevant events c. Organisation of Copernicus promotional events 3. One-stop shop Copernicus Information Point(s) and helpdesk creation and operation a. Ideally set-up of physical one-stop-shop(s) such as Copernicus Information Point(s) b. Development of helpdesks in the local language for anyone interested in obtaining information about Copernicus c. Interface with the Copernicus Support Office as needed 4. Targeted national, regional or local training sessions organisation 5. Potential extra ad-hoc actions as proposed by the Relays and approved by the European Commission While no EU funding is currently available for these Networks per se, the European Commission finances their animation through the Copernicus Support Network. The European Commission will also make available several kinds of financial instruments to the members of the networks (notably through our start-up initiative, COSME or the forthcoming Framework Partnership Agreement for user uptake), as well as non-financial support (e.g. communication materials, trainings, webinars ). The Support Office, upon explicit request, can identify to what extent it can support the proposed activities. Moreover, the Copernicus User Forum (CUF) and the Entrusted Entities (EEs) could assist or indicate appropriate funding opportunities available for the type of initiative proposed. Nonetheless, it is worthwhile to underline that the Copernicus Relays will receive a considerable return in terms of knowledge enhancement, reputation and capacity building, as well as cross-fertilisation and best practices sharing with other Members of the Network. The Support Office will be fully available for making this overall journey a worthwhile experience for all the organisations involved. Coordination at regional and local level The Relays are encouraged to ensure the coordination of Copernicus-related activities developed in their respective areas of influence and competence. This is to be considered as a core task for the Relays. A common starting point for all the Copernicus Relays will be the mapping of User Uptake initiatives performed by the EC (that will be distributed to the Relays by the Support Office), which the Relays are encouraged to complement/ complete/update by including current and future Copernicus-related activities in their areas of activity. This step is fundamental in order to set the scene for an efficient and focused promotion and animation activity at national and most importantly at local/regional level. Based on the status quo, the European Commission kindly invites each Relay 4 to deliver an Initial Action Plan within 1 month of starting its activity 5. This Action Plan would include the list of foreseen activities during 2017, as well as the description of external support needed (if applicable). The plan would be updated throughout the year with the assistance of the Copernicus Support Office. 3 When there is only one relay per MS, the coordination and animation will also be performed at National level 4 In countries where several Relays are present, a coordinated single delivery is encouraged 5 One moth after the inaugural teleconference for the initial list of Relays 2 One month after appointment for new releays
Promotion The Copernicus promotion activities are fundamental to ensure a proper distribution of up-to-date official documentation from the European Commission and maximise the awareness of the programme and what it offers. The Relays are kindly encouraged to: Disseminate up-to-date Copernicus material after having received it from the Support Office (on behalf of the Commission) The three languages supported by the official Copernicus documentation are English, French, and German, but selected promotional materials will be translated into the 24 EU languages. The full list will be published by the Support Office once available. For what concerns additional material only translated into the three official languages, translation into the National Relay language will be left at the discretion of the Relay. In addition to this, the Relays could, after a selection of relevant events, promote Copernicus domestically in order to reach the largest audience possible. The selection of events might be coordinated with the Support Office. Suggested selection drivers include: Size of the event/ targeted audience Resonance of the event at National and International (if applicable) level Relevance of the event in relation to potential impacts on priority economic sectors Presence of relevant SMEs which benefit or could benefit from EO data and information To complete the picture about promotional activities, the Relays are encouraged to take the initiative of organising Copernicus-related events at National / regional and/or local level and coordinate this action (if deemed appropriate) with the Copernicus User Forum (CUF) and the EEs. These events could encompass for example: General public events, aimed at raising awareness of Copernicus Sector-specific events, e.g. focused on a sector which represents a strength for the country of the Relay Match-making opportunities might be organised within each sector-specific event In order to adequately plan and deploy the available resources, the European Commission invites the Relays to include a list of potential events in their Initial Action Plan. Details of the proposed events to be organised could be delivered to the Support Office sixty days prior to the event. The Support Office will provide feedback on behalf of the European Commission. One-stop shop helpdesk creation and running One-stop shops at regional and local level could be set up. These helpdesk/information points could become a reference for Copernicus at regional and local level (and in certain cases also at national level). These helpdesks should be adequately advertised so that requests are properly redirected to them. Some Relays already have an information point set-up, while others might want to create one, therefore different timelines are suggested: Relays who have already set up an information point Provide, if possible, an overview of the structure and the operation of the existing helpdesk two weeks after the start of operations. The Support Office will provide feedback in terms of possible synergy exploitation or specific advice on behalf of the European Commission. Relays who are planning to create a helpdesk from scratch Provide, if possible, a draft proposal of the helpdesk structure and operations four weeks after the start of operations. The Support Office will provide templates and best practices on how to set up an efficient helpdesk, and will suggest procedures based on its own experience. For what concerns the actual operations of the Relays helpdesk, each Member is kindly invited to: Maintain a database of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to be shared with the Support Office regularly. The Support Office will maintain a general FAQs database for all Relays to consult, therefore inputs from the Relays on additional relevant FAQs could be extremely beneficial for the entire network Redirect questions and requests to the Support Office when needed, including the redirection justification Consider the Support Office as main point of contact for any kind of support/issues, as the Support Office is there to help and meet Relays needs to the maximum extent possible. The Support Office will then report to the European Commission as needed. The Copernicus Support Office is, indeed, meant to provide with useful tools to support the Relays respective awareness tasks, therefore the above inputs on FAQs are fundamental in order to ensure that the Copernicus Support Office helpdesk and published FAQs address the Relays needs at best. 3
National, regional or local training sessions organisation The Relays are encouraged to provide hands-on training opportunities to relevant stakeholders which could benefit from Copernicus data and/or information. The training themes might cover the whole spectrum of potential Copernicus users (such as public authorities, academia, specific private sector SMEs, etc.) and decision-makers at all levels of government. For this specific task, cooperation with the Copernicus Academy members is strongly encouraged. If a Relay is planning to organise a Copernicus related training session, they are invited to send a draft proposal to the Support Office including: Type of training Qualifications to execute the training Target audience of the training Expected outcome and benefits of the training Needed inputs from the European Commission (if any) A list of potential training sessions envisioned is advised to be included in the Initial Action Plan delivered to the European Commission, while the draft training proposal could be sent to the Support Office two months before the training s planned date. The Support Office will provide feedback on behalf of the European Commission. Extra actions proposed by the Relays and approved by the European Commission The European Commission encourages the development of other innovative, sustainable and reliable tools to ensure a closer link to the intermediate- and end-user communities. Each Relay might propose solutions which are based on their experience, expertise, and specific skills, and that are not contemplated in the list of standard tasks. If deemed appropriate, each Member will include the envisioned extra-activities in the Yearly Action Plan, but the European Commission welcomes new and fruitful propositions also later over the first year of operations. The main point of reference for any communication will be the Support Office, which will in turn report to and liaise with the European Commission. Suggested milestones for all Copernicus Relays In order to ensure the best exploitation of synergies and cross-fertilisation across Copernicus Relays, the European Commission kindly encourages the establishment of a few milestones, including a yearly report towards the end of the initial 12-month period, e.g.: Initial Action Plan 1 month after starting activities as Relays, including the list of foreseen activities for 2017 as well as the descrption of external support needed (if applicable) Quarterly report delivered to the Support Office on a voluntary best effort basis. The Support Office will provide a 2 page template which will be sent to all Copernicus Relays including Activities performed Statistics on number of requests received and addressed Relevant updates (list of events, useful findings, etc.) Yearly Action Plan delivered to the Support Office ideally 90 days before the anniversary of the date at which the member recevied the Relay label (required in order to be eligible for the renewal of the labelling) The rationale for setting up these milestones is to ensure the best use and maximum leverage of allocated resources, avoid duplications, foster cooperation and cross-fertilisation, and ultimately increase the knowledge and skills needed by space data users. 6 These milestones represent suggestions from the European Commission, to be carried out on a voluntary basis 4