GGIM)

Because of her involvement in these critical areas, Ruth has been appointed to the rank of official U.S. Delegate Advisor for the United Nations to UN GGIM.

On August 4-5, a meeting was held on "The Integration of Statistical and Geospatial Information" with significant focus on the Global Geodetic Reference Frame (GGRF). Wednesday, August 6, began with a workshop on the GGRF. The GGRF Working Group is chaired by Australia and Norway (Gary Johnston, Anne Jørgensen and Per Erik Opseth); included in the core working group (WG) are Zuheir Altamimi, Hansjörg Kutterrer, and Ruth Neilan, as key members of the GGRF working group; with larger WG including many country representatives.

The GGRF Working Group tabled a Terms of Reference, a draft UN General Assembly Resolution for the GGRF, and a Concept Note at the 4^th Session of the UN Community of Experts on GGIM. After a presentation given by Gary Johnston on August 6, there were 40 extremely positive interventions in support of the work of GGRF – the sheer number of countries formally declaring support for this effort is remarkable and demonstrates that the GGIM's work has had significant impact in the diplomatic sphere.

The draft resolution and its intent were approved by the 77 representative countries. This resulted in an official decision, 4/101, recommending that the amended draft Resolution on a Global Geodetic Reference Frame for Sustainable Development, be referred to the Economic and Social Council for endorsement and further referral to the United Nations General Assembly. The decision also noted the commitment of Member States to provide support in this process.

This resolution, and the tremendous diplomatic and technical effort behind it, highlights the importance of the global geodetic reference frame, its maintenance, upgrade, and collocation of techniques. Additional time was spent in the WG on August 8, laying out the 'GGRF Roadmap' and other supporting strategies. Related documents and information about the GGRF meeting can be found on the web at: http://ggim.un.org/ggim_committee.html

GEO Secretariat, Barb Ryan, was also present at the GGRF workshop and voiced her support of the GGRF on behalf of GEO. In complement to this, Ryan has written a strong support letter for GGRF and will work jointly with the team within the GEO/CEOS committees and the UN GGIM. This will also be a topic at the UN International Committee on GNSS within UN OOSA, which hosted a UN GGIM preparatory meeting this past April in Vienna, Austria.

More information on the GGIM Global Forum, August 4-5 can be found at: http://ggim.un.org/Global%20Forum.html.

Space Geodesy Community Representatives:

• Gary Johnston, Geoscience Australia; Chair of GIAC, Member of the IGS Governing Board
• Per Erik Opseth and Anne Jørgensen, Norwegian Mapping Authority (Kartverket), NASA partners, Ny Alesünd Station
• Zuheir Altamimi, Institut National de l'Information Géographique et Forestière (IGN); ITRF and Member of the IGS Governing Board
• Hansjörg Kutterrer, Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie (BKG); Chair of GGOS
• Ruth Neilan, NASA JPL; Vice Chair of GGOS, Director of the IGS Central Bureau