Brussels, 18 September 2020 – On 02 September 2020, the European Association of Aerial Surveying Industries, held the First Annual General meeting. While the AGM was originally going to be held in Brussels, reacting to the present travel restrictions due to the COVID19 Pandemic, it was held virtually.

After a salutation from the President, Simon Musaeus, he presented the new Secretary General Marcos Martinez Fernandez to Members and Observers. The keynote was given by Mick Cory, Secretary General and Executive Director of EuroGeographics, who gave an overview of the European and Global geospatial data policy under the title "International Geospatial Policy Developments and EuroGeographics’ strategic response."

At the core of the AGM stood the election of the new Board of Directors for the period 2020 – 2021.

As per the association statutes, Simon Musäus (Hexagon), André Jadot (Eurosense), and Rachel Tidmarsh (Bluesky) will continue on the Board as President, Vice President, and Treasurer respectively for a further 12 months. The new Board of Directors will meet for the first Board meeting of the period in October 2020 to agree on the final distribution of responsibilities among all Directors.

Florian Romanowski will continue his contributions with Action Group 1 – "European Projects." AG1 has been formed to develop a specific strategy for creating visibility and connections at the level of Pan-European policy and to seek ways for obtaining European interest and funding for large scale Aerial Surveying projects.

Action Group 2 "Air Traffic Control" has the goal to obtain preferential access to the airspace for aerial survey aircraft on mission. Klaus Legat (AVT,) who served on the first Board 2019-2020 and lead AG 2, did not put forward a candidature, but will continue his cooperation in Action Group 3 "Certifications and Standards." The Board will determine a successor for Klaus Legat at the helm of AG2.

Aicke Damrau will lead Action Group 3 "Certifications and Standards," to drive the development of a common, European set of standards for aerial survey and association-issued certifications. The goal is to offer to the market a structured concept of quality to leverage the Aerial Survey for optimal value generation.

 “Our markets are expanding rapidly, and realities, both in thematic as in geographical terms are changing. It is crucial, to seek a broad representation of the community in the Board, and at the same time maintain continuity in the development of EAASI's prime activities” commented Simon Musäus, President of EAASI. “I am excited to see more regions and domains represented on the Board. The coming twelve months will be dedicated to bundling the energy of the members through the Action groups and to growing partnerships at European level to increase the influence of the association on decision processes in the market .”

EAASI was incorporated in 2019 and represents organisations in the European aerial surveying market. With the global aerial imaging market predicted to reach more than 2.8 billion dollars by 2022, EAASI aims to promote the benefits of aerial surveying, improve awareness of aerial survey data and maintain and promote best practice within the industry. 

CONTACTS: EAASI - http://www.EAASI.eu