[SatNews] The European Delegation to Tunisia inaugurated the GEMCO (Galileo EuroMed Cooperation Office) office at Elgazala Technopark in Tunis, at the presence of representatives of Tunisian Institutions and European Commission.

Several delegates from six Euromed countries (Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia) attended the inauguration ceremony and the workshop organized by the Euromed GNSS3 II project called MEDUSA4, that is also in charge of operating the office.

The day kicked off by an Institutional panel with key note speeches from European Commission, European Delegation in Tunis and the Ministry of Transport of Tunisia that reaffirmed the interest of Tunisia towards EGNOS5 and Galileo and the mutual cooperation in the field of E-GNSS6 recalling the joint statement signed between the Minister of Transport and Vice-president Tajani one year ago.

The second part was mainly dedicated to share the European experiences in using EGNOS and the views for Galileo in civilian applications, as well as to discuss the possibilities for cross-fertilization with the forthcoming GEMCO activities. During the third part, focused on reviewing the several ideas submitted in the framework of the call for ideas closed last September, the speakers—from Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia—presented their proposals and their priority themes concerning the use of GNSS in their countries and in the Euromed region.
The event’s material is available for download on the project’ website at the link http://www.euromedtransport.eu/En/working-group-aaognssaau_20_9_54.

On the occasion of the “Arab ICT7 Incubators Workshop and Arab Technoparks Meeting” organized by the ITU8 Regional Office for the Arab States and Elgazala Technopark, GEMCO signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF) also acting as coordinator of the Arab MENA9 Regional Challenge to the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC).

Capitalizing on the parties’ common vision fostering the exploitation of the GNSS, this LoI strengthens a bilateral relationship based on a plan of joint activities identified upon mutual benefits and addressed to the Arab Euromed countries, for:

• Supporting the development and contributing to the innovation linked to the services/products based on the European GNSS (EGNOS and Galileo)
• Promoting research, educational, and commercial cooperation towards their networks

This agreement constitutes a first and important step of the new born GEMCO towards the cooperation in the field of satellite navigation with other entities in the Euromed area.

To contact the GEMCO staff, send an email to: gemco.medusa@outlook.com