GVF MEMBER COMPANIES COLLABORATE WITH MORE THAN 20 INDO ASIA-PACIFIC MILITARIES TO ENABLE USE OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATION IN DISASTER RELIEF EFFORTS

Satellite Industry Delivers Increased Support for 'Satcom Endeavor' Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response Communications Interoperability Program

MONDAY, 11 September 2017

SAN JOSE, California - Militaries from throughout the Indo Asia-Pacific region have strengthened their disaster preparedness capabilities through expanded collaboration with GVF – the international association of the satellite communications industry – and its Member companies, which supported delivery of capacity building to enable more effective use of satellite-based broadband solutions.

For two weeks during August, officers from more than 15 militaries collaborated with leading providers of satellite communication systems and services during “Satcom Endeavor”, a joint program of militaries from throughout the Indo Asia-Pacific sponsored by the US Pacific Command (PACOM) through the support and coordination of PACOM’s MCIP Management team. This year’s program was the largest in a series of events where GVF information sharing and certification was provided to enable the use of satellite communications systems to ensure that in a crisis or disaster there are individuals available throughout the region who can assist with relief efforts. In addition to capacity building, collaboration will also be expanded to address Cyber Security and Validation & Benchmarking initiatives.

“The expanded collaboration that occurred at this year’s Pacific Endeavor exemplifies the increasing extent to which military leadership and the satellite industry are working together to strengthen disaster preparedness through the use of space-based broadband solutions,” said David Hartshorn, Secretary General of GVF. “We are honored to support such an important enterprise and look forward to building upon these achievements in the future.”

During the four Satcom Endeavor exercises, candidates successfully completed different online courses and Hands On Skills Test; 82 Certificates were awarded and 67 resources are GVF Certified. GVF conducted the Onsite Mentored Certification modules in 2012, 2014, 2015 & 2017. Military personnel participating from more than 22 member nations achieved GVF Satcom Professional Certifications. These GVF Basic certified resources from PE-2017, are now eligible to enroll in further trainings -- including Advanced Satcom Professional Certification -- for an entire year of access to 20+ different online modules. The primary industry supporter was Eutelsat, with complementary engagement provided by GVF Members and partners, including Applied Instruments, AQYR, GD Satcom, Inmarsat, Integrasys, Iridium, Marlink, ND Satcom, SES Networks, Speedcast, Thuraya, and other leading companies bringing Emerging Technology Solutions. Online interactive content was provided by SatProf and Onsite Mentoring of sessions was supported by Mahdi Bagh Computers.

“This initiative has taken another important step in saving lives,” said Riaz Lamak of Mahdi Bagh Computers and a GVF Point of Contact for Pacific Endeavor. “ Our collaboration is for Capacity Building & Information Sharing, bringing the latest technology from our Industry for HADR resources. It is highly commendable that with completion of 4 Satcom Endeavors, there is now a rich resource of GVF Certified officials in each of the countries. With this, MCIP has created a registry of Skilled and GVF Certified resources, officials available in each country on APAN. This database is available to each of the nations for augmenting resources towards quick deployments in case of disaster relief efforts.”