This high-level opening panel will gather key stakeholders to discuss and explore the evolution of the European Earth Observation industry and the crucial role of EO across a variety of sectors, including opportunities to come and future evolution, especially in light of the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the ongoing negociations of the EU Space Act.

This two part panel focused on defence and security will aim to discuss how Earth Observation can help meet future security and defence needs, including considerations around dual-use systems and the connections between the two domains. The first part will be more focused on high-level strategic considerations and the policy landscapse.

This two part panel focused on defence and security will aim to discuss how Earth Observation can help meet future security and defence needs, including considerations around dual-use systems and the connections between the two domains. The second panel will be focused on more operational aspects around requirement gathering, user needs, and future implementation.

In June 2025, the European Commission adopted the EU Ocean Pact, an overarching strategy for all ocean-related EU polices. In this framework, the Commission has been working on several initiatives, including the upcoming EU Ocean Act (which mainly aims to strengthen and modernise Maritime Spatial Planning), a European Ocean Research and Innovation Strategy, and the recently announced OceanEye, an EU Ocean Monitoring and Observation Initiative. This session will aim to understand how Earth observation can support the overall objectives of the EU Ocean Pact, the implementation of the future EU Ocean Act, and help address the challenges in EU's ocean observation efforts, bringing together European and international stakeholders across the ecosystem.

We will continue the afternoon programme with shorter "lightning talks" with key stakeholders from the European Commission regarding several upcoming or ongoing policy files of interest to the EO downstream industry. The first lightning talk will focus on the CRCF certification methodologies for carbon farming and opportunities for Earth Observation companies in this context.

We will continue the afternoon programme with shorter "lightning talks" with key stakeholders from the European Commission regarding several upcoming or ongoing policy files of interest to the EO downstream industry. The second lightning talk will focus on the revision of the EU Arctic Policy and the role for Earth Observation in this context.

This session, organised in partnership with the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, aims to support the EO community in better understanding the landscape of digital and data-related initiatives and platforms, as well as their interoperability/federation, especially as regards the role of Digital Twins/Destination Earth and other similar data-related initiatives (e.g., the Copernicus Thematic Hubs, data spaces, etc.).