Report of the
Satellite Navigation & Communications (SN&C) Systems Advisory Committee
to the
APEC Transportation Working Group
Steering Committee on Safe and Environment-Friendly Transportation Systems

Wednesday, November 10, 1999
Hong Kong, China

The Satellite Navigation & Communications (SN&C) Systems Advisory Committee met on Tuesday, November 9, 1999, during the 16th meeting of the APEC Transportation Working Group (TPT-WG) in Hong Kong, China. Ten Economies were represented at the meeting including Brunei, Canada, China, Hong Kong China, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and the United States.

After the Chair reviewed the agenda, the floor was opened to nominations from Economies for the election of a new Chair and/or Vice Chair. The committee recommended that the current Chair/Vice Chair remain, acknowleding accomplishments to date. Therefore, as no nominations were received, the current Chair (United States) and Vice Chair (Singapore) will continue to hold these positions. The chair noted that non-APEC entities have been asked to give presentations, including representatives from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Asia and Pacific Office and the International Air Transport Association, at this meeting based on past resolutions of the steering committee to receive updates as necessary from regional organizations engaged in SN&C activities. It was agreed that these occasional presentations were necessary so as not to duplicate, but rather to assist in reinforcing, work already underway in the region.

The advisory committee held an open discussion and review of the mission statement, terms of reference and initial task list as developed at TPT-WG 12 held in Chinese Taipei in 1997. This review was conducted in light of the discussion the previous day during the brainstorming session on TPT-WG strategic development issues. There were no changes made to the mission statement and terms of reference. Suggested changes and updates to the initial task list will be made by the advisory committee secretariat intercessionally and posted on the TPT-WG web site for members’ review before the next meeting of the advisory committee. As agreed by the members, the secretariat will also update the task list to include "deliverables" where appropriate. The secretariat will also add a section to the advisory committee’s web site location to allow Economies to post events and/or other information that would be of interest to all Economies.

The Chair provided the members with a report on the "Forum on Intermodalism and Satellite-based Transportation Technologies," held in May 1999 in Singapore. The Forum was co-hosted by the advisory committee, the TPT-WG’s Intermodal Task Force and the Singapore Aviation Academy. A written report was made available to the committee as well as an article published by the Singapore Aviation Academy in its July 1999 "SAA Review." The Chair thanked Singapore for its assistance in arranging the forum and, in particular, for its work in arranging site visits to the Singapore Integrated Transport Systems Control Center, Port Operations Control Center and the Air Traffic Control Center. The Chair also thanked theUnited States for its work in arranging a GPS augmentation flight trial/demonstration for each participant in the Forum.

The Chair also provided an update on the status of the ministerial statement on the protection of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) spectrum for all modes of transportation that was endorsed at TPT-WG 15. The Chair noted that the United States Secretary of Transportation, as agreed by the SCSE and plenary meetings at TPT-WG 15, sent a letter in July 1999 to all of the APEC Ministers of Transportation requesting their final endorsement of the ministerial statement. The United States received 15 endorsements in writing and no non-endorsements of the statement. In line with the process outlined by the report of the SCSE, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation is in the process of sending a letter to the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva with the statement attached, noting the endorsement by the APEC Ministers of Transportation. The Chair agreed to provide a copy of the letter to all Economies after the signed letter becomes available.

The Chair thanked all of the members of the advisory committee for their work over the past two years in developing and receiving final endorsement of the statement. It was also noted by a number of the members that, although the committee had achieved success in receiving endorsement of the statement, all Economies must remain vigilant in providing information to their colleagues, particularly within the telecommunication community, on the importance of maintaining GNSS spectrum as outlined in the statement for transportation safety of life applications. It also was noted that all Economies should be encouraged to participate in the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) meeting to be held in Tokyo beginning January 31, 2000, and to remain engaged within their governments as positions for the World Radiocommunication Conference to be held in May 2000 in Turkey are developed.

A representative of ICAO presented two information papers, one on the most recent decisions of the APT meeting held in Australia in October 1999, the other on the 10^th meeting of the ICAO Asia Pacific Air Navigation Planning and Implementation Regional Group. A representative from the International Air Transport Association presented a paper on the enhancements that GPS-related technologies could bring to the safety and regulation of air carrier operations, particularly in the area of Controlled Flight into Terrain or CFIT. The United States made available information on opportunities for WGS-84 surveying through a joint project of the U.S. National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and encouraged all Economies to contact either NIMA or the FAA if interested.

The Chair then moved to discussion of new activities including the need for the committee to examine the promotion of the development of a regional GNSS augmentation system(s.) A delegate from the United States gave a presentation on a GNSS regional augmentation plan that is being considered by the Southern Africa Development Community or SADC. The presentation provided a methodology for consideration, emphasizing the importance of cost/benefit analysis, discussing some of the more difficult political issues associated with regional planning and highlighting financing options (including the collection and distribution of user fees.)

The advisory committee agreed that the development of a core group of three or four Economies should be formed to examine the issue more closely and make recommendations to the committee at TPT-WG 17. Noting that Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA) had earlier expressed some interest in providing facilities for such a core group meeting intercessionally, the United States agreed to coordinate a meeting site, date and time for such a meeting and to provide invitations to all Economies to participate in a core group through heads of delegation.

Recommendations to the Steering Committee:

• that the report of the advisory committee be endorsed;
• that the Steering Committee acknowledge the successful endorsement by Ministers of the GNSS sprectrum protection ministerial statement;
• that the United States work intercessionally to invite Economies to form a core group of experts to provide recommendations to the advisory committee regarding the issue of regional implementation of GNSS augmentation systems.

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