Paris, 07 Sep 2004
Dr. Serge Plattard, a Frenchman, has become the first Secretary General of the European Space Policy Institute, founded by ESA and the Austrian Space Agency (ASA) in November 2003 and located in Vienna (Austria).
He was appointed for a three-year term in August by the ESPI General Assembly and took up his duties on 1 September. Further ESPI officers will be elected at a General Assembly to be held later this month.
Dr. Plattard joined CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) in 1998 as Director of International Relations. He has also been Counsellor for Science and Technology at the French Embassy in Washington DC, Head of the French Scientific and Technological Mission to the United States, Permanent Representative of the French Universities, Counsellor for Science and Technology at the French Embassy in Tokyo, French Delegate on the Board of ESO (European Southern Observatory), and Director for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, responsible for industrialised countries, at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He is a life member of the American Physical Society and a founding member of Euroscience (European Association for the Promotion of Science and Technology). He is the author of several publications, has been Assistant Professor at the Université d'Orsay and Université Paris-Dauphine and, since 1999, lecturer on technology management and industrial innovation at the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales, Cergy-Pontoise.
ESPI will identify and develop research themes relevant to European space policy, which will be used to initiate, support and promote political and societal debate fostering public awareness of the importance of space-based infrastructures and services.
The tasks of the Institute are multidisciplinary in nature while linked to space policy, thereby federating know-how, skills and knowledge to conduct comprehensive and independent policy research for the benefit of space operators in Europe. A team of 8 to 12 policy analysts and scientists is to be set up to undertake studies and publish reports.
Membership of the Institute is open to any national space administration, intergovernmental research organisation, university, institute or any other national or international, governmental or non-governmental entity or natural or legal person that has a particular interest in participating in ESPI activities.
For further information please contact:
Andrea Vena
ESA, DG's Office for Policy
Tel. +33153697375
Fax. +33153697702
Email: andrea.vena@esa.int
Michel Jakob
ASA/FFG, ESPI Contact Point
Tel. +431403817726
Fax. +4314058228
email: michel.jakob@ffg.at
http:///www.esa.int/export/esaCP/index.html
Item source: http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/SEMP1H0X DYD_index_0.html