press releases

Leading North American IT and aerospace companies see emerging opportunities in growing international Clean technology markets.

 

  • NEW YORK, September 21, 2006 – Today at Cleantech Venture Forum ® XI during the Gurus
  • Session: GEOSS – The Next GPS or Human Genome Project for Planet Earth? members of the
  • Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) will express their concern for the
  • potential impact of climate change combined with a far-reaching government initiative to
  • integrate the world’s disparate Earth and environmental information systems. This crucial topic
  • has caused many of the leading U.S. information technology and aerospace companies to take a
  • special interest in the clean technology sector, as it celebrates one of its biggest success stories –
  • reducing the amount of ozone-depleting gases in the atmosphere.
  •  
  • “Just last month, we acknowledged an improvement in the ozone hole. Observation technologies
  • enabled us to identify, visualize and monitor this critical environmental problem, while
  • government cooperation and industry innovation allowed us to solve the problem. We can apply a
  • similar model to issues such as climate change and other areas” said Nancy Colleton, executive
  • director of the Alliance for Earth Observations, an industry group devoted to promoting the
  • benefits of observations.
  •  
  • Bill Gail, director for strategic development for Microsoft’s Virtual Earth, agrees, “Platforms like
  • Virtual Earth will enable governments, businesses and even consumers to visualize and address a
  • host of environmental issues. It is the visualization of these topics that will catalyze action. The
  • more observational data that is available, the more applications we will see being built using
  • Virtual Earth and Google Earth. It will impact all segments of the cleantech sector—energy,
  • agriculture, water and transportation. The possibilities are endless,” Gail said.
  •  
  • One area in which experts see a high-impact opportunity to apply observation systems is in the
  • emerging ecosystem services sector. The carbon market, for example, is one that is evolving
  • quickly and could benefit greatly from improved availability of and access to spacebased
  • remote sensing technology.
  •  
  • “Satellite observations of the Earth are going to be a primary method of measuring, monitoring
  • and verifying carbon credits generated from changes in land use,” said David Skole, chief
  • technology officer for the Climate Investment Network for Carbon Sequestration. “We need
  • imagery from space and other sources to continually monitor carbon resources. Using satellites,
  • we can do largescale, global monitoring and ensure credibility to the markets.”
  • The use of spacebased satellites in other vertical markets such as homeland security, marine and
  • ocean transportation, and agriculture is nothing new. However, the introduction of tools including
  • Virtual Earth and Google Earth in parallel with more than 60 countries agreeing to share Earth
  • and environmental information through the Global Earth Observation System of Systems
  • (GEOSS) opens up new possibilities.
  •  
  • “GEOSS will enable applications in areas we’ve never even considered. On the government side,
  • we are working very hard for improved prediction of natural hazards like tsunami and hurricane
  • forecasting, and utilization of the data for better resource management. But, on the private sector
  • side, we know GEOSS information will enhance the activities of existing companies in every
  • industry and will help support new entrepreneurial ventures. The underlying, critical piece in all
  • of this is the observations. We need the data and information from satellites, buoys, balloons,
  • ships and aircraft available and easy to integrate,” said NOAA Administrator and Under Secretary
  • of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr.
  • ********************
  • For the first time, leaders from the environmental monitoring and information technology sectors
  • will came together at Cleantech Venture Forums™ XI to examine the potential of GEOSS to not
  • only provide unprecedented data for measuring the performance of clean technologies, but also
  • generate new entrepreneurial opportunities for the clean tech sector.
  •  
  • Moderated by Dan Dubno, producer and technologist for CBS News in New York, the session is
  • part of Cleantech Venture Forum™ XI. Joining Dubno will be Bill Gail, director of strategic
  • development for Microsoft’s Virtual Earth; David Skole, chief technology officer for the CINCS
  • (Climate Investment Network for Carbon Sequestration); and Carla Sullivan, senior policy
  • advisor, Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. Science
  • Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and Northrop Grumman are sponsoring the
  • session, which is organized by the Alliance for Earth Observations.
  • About Cleantech Venture Network®, LLC
  • Cleantech Venture Network ® LLC is a membership group that catalyzes investment, business
  • opportunities, and relationships driving the growth of cleantech globally. The network has over
  • 1100 affiliate members worldwide who take advantage of the global Cleantech Venture Forums™,
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  • companies, online deal flow, and online directory of investors active in cleantech. In addition, they
  • provide information services including the twice a month market intelligence newsletter Cleantech
  • Capital Alert and the quarterly Cleantech Venture Monitor® report that tracks and analyzes all
  • cleantech venture investments, M&As and IPOs in North America and Europe.
  •  
  • Over $500 million has been raised by companies that presented at the Cleantech Venture Forums™
  • since 2002. The organization has tracked and analyzed more than $10.2 billion of North American
  • venture investment in cleantech since 1999 and all European cleantech investments over the past
  • three years. They have expanded their database to include all M&As and IPOs in cleantech in
  • North America and Europe.
  • Further information can be found at www.cleantech.com or by calling (+1) 8102244910