Remote Sensing industry is going through a dynamic change. Now with government spending cuts affecting this industry's growth rate, it is expected to think out-of-the-box for not only its viable growth but long term sustenance. Traditionally dominated by use in defence and internal security, this industry is now looking at commercial use of its data and for creating innovative business models for catering to needs of verticals like mining, energy, oil and gas, agriculture, infrastructure, insurance, telecommunication and so on, thereby contributing significantly to nation's economic growth.

For achieving economic growth and societal benefits using RS technologies, many related organisations, private sector industry and end user organisations are required to engage in open dialogue and cooperation, which is now being supported by agencies like GMES in European Commission, GEO and United Nations. They are working towards building platforms for exchange of ideas and new applications for different user sectors. In order to support such initiatives, Geospatial Media and Communications, in association with ISPRS, EARSel, EARSC and GEO is organising a session on Earth Observation Systems for Economic Development during Geospatial World Forum on 16 May 2013 at Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Session Objectives The session will bring together speakers from the Government, IGOs, Commercial sectors and End-User agencies to discuss the current situation regarding acquisition and application of Earth observation data for economic development and the road map ahead. Issues for presentation and discussion will include: Status and challenges faced by data acquisition agencies Prospects perceived for RS data in various vertical industries Challenges faced by industry while catering to non-traditional user sectors Innovation on business models in coming years Value or return-on-investments that end-users get while using remote sensing data Expectations of non-traditional end-user segment from commercial sector and data agencies Charting of road map for EOS industry for economic development

Prof. Ian Dowman Emeritus Professor of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing Dept of Civil, Environment & Geomatic Eng University College London, United Kingdom

Dr. Ioannis Manakos Chairman EARSeL Greece Abstract

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Heipke Institute of Photogrammetry and GeoInformation Leibniz University Germany

Barbara Ryan Secretariat Director Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Switzerland Abstract	Geoff Sawyer Secretary General EARSC Belgium	Reinhard Schulte-Braucks Head of Unit - GMES Bureau, DG Enterprise and Industry European Commission Belgium Abstract
Prof. dr. P.F. (Pieternel) Levelt Head Climate Observations Interim Head Chemistry & Climate & Principal Investigator EOS-Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI) The Netherlands Abstract	Donatella Giampaolo Head of International Sales e-GEOS Italy	David Belton General Manager MDA Geospatial Services Canada Abstract
Philippe Delclaux Consultant - Astrium & Member - OGC Board of Directors France Bio | Abstract	Paul Bogaard International Policy Officer Geological Survey of the Netherlands, TNO The Netherlands Abstract	Julia Yagüe Project Manager - Payload Data Processing and Applications Business Unit Remote Sensing Applications and Services Division GMV Spain Abstract
Hans van 't Woud Founder Black Shore The Netherlands Bio | Abstract	Brian L. Soliday Senior Vice President Sales Surveylab USA Bio	Prof. Sisi Zlatanova GIS Technology Section OTB Research Institute for the Built Environment TUDelft The Netherlands Abstract