Australian EO Community Plan 2026

The Plan delivers a unifying focus to motivate and guide the Australian Earth observation community to take coordinated action towards achieving the vision that: By 2026, the Australian Earth Observation sector will develop and deliver high-quality Earth Observation information, infrastructure, and services that are used widely by government, industry, research and the community in Australia and internationally.

Australia has a solid foundation of data, knowledge, infrastructure and services on which to build its future Earth observation capability. 

The Plan details five priority areas of action to achieve the vision for 2026:

1. Connection and Coordination — establishing a consistent vision within the Australian Earth Observation community, and delivering processes for internal coordination to ensure effective collaboration, resource use, and advocacy for Earth Observation in Australia and internationally.

2. Securing Australia’s Role in the International Earth Observation Community — Australia must be an essential component of the international Earth Observation capability, delivering benefits to the international community and securing our access to and involvement in international Earth Observation programmes.

3. Infrastructure and People — developing, supporting and sustaining a wealth of trained professionals and quality infrastructure to enable world-leading Earth Observation research, innovation and application development.

4.  Access to Earth Observation Data and Services — ensuring all Australian Earth Observation producers and users can easily and reliably access the data and services they need.

5. Generating Value — strengthening end-user engagement to enable delivery of high quality Earth Observation products and services suited to user needs, and supporting commercial development of Earth Observation applications.

The Plan was developed in consultation across the Earth Observation sector. It includes government, industry, research, education and not-for profit EO activities, and so is relevant across the EO community for all sectors to use.  It plays a significant role in drawing together our community and giving all sectors the capability to set strategic directions and work with one another in a complementary fashion.  This approach builds on the significant previous work done across governments in assessing the value of EO, outlining data requirements, and assessing supply risks.  Ultimately, this Plan will help our community to present a strong case for its work and for the necessary future investments to enable progress.  Maintaining an approach that couples this full engagement across government, industry, and research sectors, with the support of emerging technologies, will ensure the benefits of Earth Observation for daily life in Australia will continue to grow.

Please contact us for a professionally printed copy of The Plan.