How users help shape WEkEO and its products offer: an introduction to the Champion User Advisory Group (CUAG) 

In line with its user-driven approach, WEkEO has launched a new initiative to ensure that its service portfolio continues to meet the expectations of users and provide them with relevant products. 

The initiative takes the form of a Champion User Advisory Group (CUAG) set to deliver user input to WEkEO and its partners Mercator Ocean International, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), and the European Environment Agency (EEA) on the value proposition of current and future products featured by the DIAS platform. 

 The composition of the group is the result of a careful selection exercise; it brings together 12 of last year’s most active WEkEO users covering a wide range of sectors in order to provide a comprehensive assessment of diverse market needs.  

 More in detail, the aim of the Champion User Advisory Group is to provide assessments and advice on the relevance of WEkEO services portfolio vis-a-vis market use, environmental policies and concrete applications. For what concerns future products propositions, the 12 WEkEO users are well positioned to provide precious advice on future and future-proof products whose market segments or applications did not emerge yet or are still not fully developed, but could soon become highly relevant. The group will also identify markets and applications from environmental data and information that successfully turn those data into value.  

 The group was officially inaugurated on 10 February with a 2-hour kick-off meeting held in a virtual format. After being provided with an overview of WEkEO’s structure and its services, the members took centre stage in a roundtable, where they had to opportunity to share insights on their projects and illustrate the role of WEkEO in the respective implementations. On this occasion, the members also delved more specifically into Copernicus-related products and the role that WEkEO plays in making Copernicus data easily accessible to its wider user community.    The next appointments concerning the Champion User Advisory Group (CUAG) will see the members reunite for two workshops respectively focused on the Product Offer, featuring an exchange of views with WEkEO product developers, and on Services, putting live trainings and demos on centre stage. In view of the valuable help provided by the group, the members will also enjoy dedicated workshops and trainings to improve their user experience and make the most of WEkEO’s innovative portfolio.  

The establishment of the advisory group is an important step forward in ensuring that WEkEO remains true to its nature as a user-driven service. This initiative will provide the users who put their trust into our DIAS platform with an additional instrument to shape the service portfolio and contribute to the continuous delivery of useful and reliable data.