2016 User workshop of the Copernicus emergency management service : summary report

This report summarises the User Workshop of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) which was held on 15-16 March 2016 at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy. The workshop focused on the mapping component of EMS and aimed at reviewing the service after four years of operations and at addressing its future evolution. Key to the discussion was the users' perspective on the service. The workshop was attended by all stakeholders involved in EMS Mapping, namely its users, the coordinating three EC Directorate Generals (JRC is the technical coordinator), service providers and stakeholders involved in data access (ESA, EEA). The discussion during the 1.5 days showed that overall users are satisfied with the service. However, a number of suggestions for improvements were raised which would render the service more usable and improve the integration of products in user's workflows. It also showed that while on some aspects users seem to agree, they diverged on others. Main priorities for the future evolution are fast(er) product delivery, dissemination of products through web services, access to the imagery used in the production, improvement of the product portfolio (more technical products, tailoring to specific risks), increasing awareness about the service and what it provides. The EC will use the results from this workshop as input to its work on the evolution of the service in years to come. The workshop agenda and presentations can be retrieved from the website: http://emergency.copernicus.eu/mapping/ems/user-workshop-copernicus-emergency-management-service-user-perspective-current-status-future.