[ESIP-all] First announcement - Virtual Observatories in Geosciences 2007

[Peter Fox]

Virtual Observatories in Geosciences 2007 (VOiG) http://www.egy.org/ 
VOiG (voig at egy.org)
First announcement.

You are invited to participate and contribute to the first virtual  
observatories in geosciences
conference (VOiG) to be held June 12-15, 2007 in Denver, Colorado,  
USA. The conference
is sponsored by the Electronic Geophysical Year, USGS, NASA, NSF and  
NCAR. While this
conference focuses on geosciences, all interested disciplines are  
invited to participate. June
11 will feature half/one-day workshops also at the conference venue.

This event is motivated by the Electronic Geophysical Year (eGY -  
www.egy.org) recognizing
the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year in 1957.  
eGY's Declaration
for an Information Science Commons is based on the quote "Knowledge  
is the Common-Wealth
of Humanity" (A. Samassekou). eGY sets out a set of eight principles  
related to data and information
as being fundamental building blocks for the conduct and advancement  
of modern science.

Among eGY activities is the advancement of the concept of virtual  
observatories to embrace
and integrate a significant number of the eGY principles.

This conference, to be held immediately before the official launch of  
eGY on July 7, 2007, is
aimed at defining and documenting the current state of virtual  
observatories, including
common and distinct elements and set a challenging goal for all VOs  
to make substantial
progress in their goals during the eGY. This conference will be  
complemented by another
gathering to be held late in the eGY (which ends in December 2008).

The conference features invited and contributed presentations and  
posters from those involved
in VOs and DDS at all levels: science and education/outreach  
developers/users, interdiscplinary
researchers, designers/architects, developers, and data providers to  
contribute their experiences
and indicate their success, outstanding needs and future vision.  
Contributions may be oral
presentations, discussion/special topic items and/or posters.

Program - Call for Contributions and Papers

June 12-15, 2007. Each day will feature plenary and parallel  
(breakout) sessions
to cover areas of broad interests as well as the opportunity for  
detailed discussions.
Time is allowed for posters, breaks to facilitate interactions  
amongst the worldwide
VO community.

Workshops - Call for Proposals

June 11, 2007 is available for one-day or half-day workshops (up to  
5) hosted by the
conference. We have two workshops schedule so far. If you would like  
to convene a
half or one-day workshop, please complete contact the chair of the
science organizing committee (voig at egy.org). Some of these workshops  
will be invitation only,
others will be open to all conference participants for a nominal  
additional registration
fee. Please watch the Registration page for details of workshops.

Scientific Organizing Committee

Peter Fox (chair),
Robert Bentley, John Broome, Emily CoBabe-Ammann, Liu Chuang,  Joan  
Fitzpatrick,
Francoise Genova, Joseph Gurman, Robert Hanisch, Mauro Messerotti,  
Ken Murata,
Vladimir Papitashvili, Mark Parsons, Bernd Ritschel, D. Aaron  
Roberts, Michele Weiss,
Lesley Wyborn.

Important Dates

Sign up for information - anytime (RSS)
April 1, 2007 - Second Circular and Draft Program with invited  
contribution/session outline
May 18, 2007 - Contribution Deadline (contributions past the deadline  
can be presented as
  posters)
May 25, 2007 - Workshop Proposal Deadline
June 1, 2007 - Registration Deadline (late and on-site registration  
fees apply, see registration)
June 1, 2007 - Accommodation Deadline for Conference Rate/Room  
Reservation Block
June 8, 2007 - Cancellation Deadline
June 11, 2007 - Workshops
June 12-15, 2007 - Conference
July 27, 2007 - Paper Submission
September 28, 2007 - Reviewed papers returned to authors
October 26, 2007 - Author Response, manuscript revision
January 1, 2008 - Intended publication date