Final Report Summary - ISKAF2010 (International SKA Forum 2010)
The aim of ISKAF2010 was to strengthen and further develop European and indeed global collaboration of SKA. This was done by ASTRON and NWO from the Netherlands hosting the international SKA forum.
In June 2010 the global radio astronomy community, together with policy makers and industry gathered in Assen Drenthe, the Netherlands to discuss the square kilometre array (SKA). The programme lasted one week, including a major science meeting on 'A new golden age for radio astronomy' attended by over 200 astronomers. A meeting where science and industry discussed the best way to approach the major science project SKA would be and an important policy meeting with all major funding agencies involved looking for the best approach to organise this new global instrument. Although not funded by the European Community, the inauguration of the LOFAR telescope by her majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands was one of the highlights of ISKAF2010. All events culminated in the international SKA forum where high level politicians, top scientists, major industries, policy makers and representatives from the candidate sites for SKA discussed 'SKA beyond astronomy'. The forum was attended by high level representatives from the European Commission, ministers from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Netherlands. The forum was also attended by 400 visitors, while more than 1 000 visitors attended the total event.
The forum gained much attention on regional, national, European and global scale and resulted in a major step forward for SKA project as the road map towards a SKA organisation was drafted. The objective of the week to show that fundamental science could contribute to society at all levels was communicated and illustrated by examples, such as a project, led by Universe Awareness (UNAWE), where schools from South Africa, the Netherlands and Australia cooperated in building a telescope. Moreover, the strong presence of regional and international industry at the exhibition connected to the international forum. The conclusion of the ISKAF2010 was that it was a major step towards SKA.
SKA is currently proposed as a research infrastructure that aims to realise a radio interferometer with a collecting area of one million square metres, approximately two orders of magnitude larger than any existing radio telescope. Operating at frequencies between 70 MHz and 25 GHz, SKA will be an international mega-science project, made up of a distributed continent sized array of 3 000 parabolic dishes and hundreds of football sized fields of novel flat panel aperture arrays. These will be capable of generating multiple fields of view simultaneously, permitting all sky imaging at frequencies below a few GHz. Central to the design is an information technology (IT) infrastructure capable of handling data rates that will be comparable to the total internet traffic demands of the planet.
The telescope is being designed to address a wide range of fundamental problems in astrophysics, fundamental physics, cosmology, particle astrophysics and astrobiology. SKA is conceived as a telescope that will both test the fundamental laws of physics and transform our current picture of the universe. It aims to answer some of the key questions of our time. In addition, it is designed to be a general purpose instrument and the flexibility inherent in the array's design, not to mention its huge field of view, meaning we can be confident that many unexpected discoveries will also be made.
SKA is included in the original and recently updated European strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) roadmap, and along with the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) is identified by Astronet as the top priority for new ground based telescope facilities in the coming decade. SKA was also identified via a poll as being among the top priorities of the United Kingdom communities.
Moreover, SKA will be a technological driving force in advancing industry and business in areas such as digital processing, high performance super-computing, sustainable energy solutions, low-consumption electronic devices, low-cost production techniques, production archiving, wide-area data transfer and the deployment of state of the art research networking capabilities on local, regional and global scales. Radio astronomy has a distinguished record in developing technologies and software that have applications to wider society.
Industry will play a crucial role in the detailed design, development, construction and operational phases of SKA. The scale of the infrastructure and the resulting requirement to mass manufacture many of its components necessitates the engagement of industry at an early stage in the project and on a scale not widely experienced in fundamental research. Major companies were already involved in the various SKA pathfinder projects. This enabled local companies to access new technology or larger markets. The demands of SKA in terms of a skilled workforce and its impact on individual economies will be substantial. Finally, undertakings such as SKA represent a fantastic opportunity to stimulate public interest in astronomy, physics, engineering and computing, as well as to develop an active and effective public education and outreach programme. Projects like SKA will surely excite and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. The UNAWE initiative adopted the philosophy that the early formative years are crucial in the development of the human value system. From the age of four upwards children can readily appreciate and enjoy the beauty of astronomical objects and can learn to develop a 'feeling' for the vastness of the universe. Exposure to inspirational astronomical themes could help broaden the minds and stimulate a world view.
SKA also benefited from funding via the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme preparatory phase study PREPSKA. The main technical deliverables of this phase were a fully costed design for the telescope and an evaluation of the site locations in terms of scientific and technical criteria. Much of the required technology was under development in the course of specific design studies. In addition, the construction of several SKA pathfinder telescopes around the world also contributed to the design. The final step of integrating the accumulated knowledge into a detailed system design for SKA was planned to take place from 2008 to 2011, under the aegis of PREPSKA, together with SKA project development office (SPDO).
The international founding agencies collaborated to provide SKA project with advice and guidance on various non-technical and scientific issues. In 2006, South Africa and Australia were selected as acceptable sites after conducting careful radio frequency interference (RFI) monitoring campaign. A definitive choice with respect to the final location of SKA was scheduled to take place from 2011 to 2012.
The main theme of the 2010 Forum meeting itself was 'SKA beyond astronomy'. The aim was to demonstrate the wide range of direct and indirect socioeconomic benefits that could be derived via investments in SKA and included the following aspects:
1. further evolve the process in which ongoing European and national policy developments identified SKA as one of the major priorities for the astronomical community in the next decade
2. support, nurture and advance international cooperation in an atmosphere in which all SKA stakeholders were present and that was conducive to both formal and informal discussions, leading to agreed and common approaches on complex and cross border issues, such as the alignment or phasing of global funding commitments, procurement and governance choices and site selection scenarios
3. foster and further develop the extensive SKA collaboration in the interface between science, research and development and industry in order to realise the optimal design of the array; actions such as the forum and its associated satellite events were essential in order to organise and mobilise SKA community in its very broadest manifestation
3. explore the opportunities that SKA and other large scale facilities might represent in terms of demonstrating that 'leading in technology is a prerequisite for leading in the marketplace', focussing on the concept of open innovation and the impact large research infrastructures could have in terms of innovation, sustainability and technological spin-off
4. reinforce the global position of Europe as a key player in international mega-science projects, on one hand facilitating a bottom-up approach and on the other hand strengthening a pan-European approach towards a programmatic and coherent plan for research infrastructures in general
5. highlight the potential of SKA as a vehicle for promoting a shared world view on the value of a global and cross-cultural approach to the promotion of the physical sciences, delivering tangible results in key areas such as early learning, training, citizen science and education, targeting under-privileged groups in various developing countries or specific sectors of society or the global family of nations, encouraging a broad approach on science awareness issues.
The event was branded by creating a special logo that integrated the Netherlands, the European Community and SKA project into one powerful image. This event log was used on all communications, press releases, website and decoration of the meeting venues. The decoration was done by banners that allowed multiple use, posters and the creation of the forum floor. A number of articles dedicated to the ISKAF event were also produced.
Simultaneously with the Forum an exhibition was organised. Participants were both candidate SKA sites, SKA project, ASTRON but also a number of global and regional industries. At total of 28 exhibitors were present. At the forum a life radio show hosted by Business News Radio (BNR), a Dutch radio station, was transmitted focussing on the collaboration between science and industry. The show paid special attention to the ASTRON collaboration with IBM in the LOFAR project, which was considered to be a SKA precursor. Moreover, a professional camera crew and a photographer captured the entire week, resulting in high quality coverage of the whole event.
A special part of the outreach programme was the cooperation with UNAWE. The project involved elementary school children on three continents being taught about astronomy by a 'real' astronomer. The schools were in Dwingeloo, the Netherlands and in the two SKA candidate sites, namely South Africa and Australia. After the lessons the children build their own telescope and, in a video exchange, presented their designs to each other. The result was captured in video movie that was presented at the forum. After the project 'Earth-balls', an educational tool to inform children about the Earth in the universe, was distributed to schools in the three countries.
The result of the outreach campaign was a huge attention in Dutch and international media via all possible pathways, e.g. twitter, blogs, national and regional newspapers, website, Dutch national television and radio news and similar regional channels.
As a result SKA project was put in the picture with a focus on the European contribution in the project. The collaboration was strengthened at all levels and a roadmap towards a SKA organisation was drafted. The attendance of high level politicians facilitated and catalysed the process which resulted in prioritising SKA project for the next decade.
The presence of all stakeholders in one week series of meetings allowed for a next step in practical issues concerning the future collaborations and in a useful exchange of knowledge and commitments. The mix of scientists, engineers, industry and politicians made the ISKAF2010 a unique event that boosted the realisation of SKA project, underlining the importance of Europe as a key player in international mega-science projects.
The large outreach programme addressed all participants of the forum on an almost individual level, paying special attention to the information requirements of the high-level guests. At the same time all participants were informed about the ISKAF2010 by a special newspaper available each morning at breakfast. After the forum all attendants received a glossy magazine with the highlights of the week in combination with a digital versatile disk (DVD) of the event. In addition, public outreach was addressed by numerous articles, items, tweets and blogs on international, national, regional and important in this respect specialised platforms. UNAWE made sure that even the youngest possible scientists were not overlooked.
Further information about the project could be found at http://www.iskaf2010.nl.
In June 2010 the global radio astronomy community, together with policy makers and industry gathered in Assen Drenthe, the Netherlands to discuss the square kilometre array (SKA). The programme lasted one week, including a major science meeting on 'A new golden age for radio astronomy' attended by over 200 astronomers. A meeting where science and industry discussed the best way to approach the major science project SKA would be and an important policy meeting with all major funding agencies involved looking for the best approach to organise this new global instrument. Although not funded by the European Community, the inauguration of the LOFAR telescope by her majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands was one of the highlights of ISKAF2010. All events culminated in the international SKA forum where high level politicians, top scientists, major industries, policy makers and representatives from the candidate sites for SKA discussed 'SKA beyond astronomy'. The forum was attended by high level representatives from the European Commission, ministers from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Netherlands. The forum was also attended by 400 visitors, while more than 1 000 visitors attended the total event.
The forum gained much attention on regional, national, European and global scale and resulted in a major step forward for SKA project as the road map towards a SKA organisation was drafted. The objective of the week to show that fundamental science could contribute to society at all levels was communicated and illustrated by examples, such as a project, led by Universe Awareness (UNAWE), where schools from South Africa, the Netherlands and Australia cooperated in building a telescope. Moreover, the strong presence of regional and international industry at the exhibition connected to the international forum. The conclusion of the ISKAF2010 was that it was a major step towards SKA.
SKA is currently proposed as a research infrastructure that aims to realise a radio interferometer with a collecting area of one million square metres, approximately two orders of magnitude larger than any existing radio telescope. Operating at frequencies between 70 MHz and 25 GHz, SKA will be an international mega-science project, made up of a distributed continent sized array of 3 000 parabolic dishes and hundreds of football sized fields of novel flat panel aperture arrays. These will be capable of generating multiple fields of view simultaneously, permitting all sky imaging at frequencies below a few GHz. Central to the design is an information technology (IT) infrastructure capable of handling data rates that will be comparable to the total internet traffic demands of the planet.
The telescope is being designed to address a wide range of fundamental problems in astrophysics, fundamental physics, cosmology, particle astrophysics and astrobiology. SKA is conceived as a telescope that will both test the fundamental laws of physics and transform our current picture of the universe. It aims to answer some of the key questions of our time. In addition, it is designed to be a general purpose instrument and the flexibility inherent in the array's design, not to mention its huge field of view, meaning we can be confident that many unexpected discoveries will also be made.
SKA is included in the original and recently updated European strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) roadmap, and along with the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) is identified by Astronet as the top priority for new ground based telescope facilities in the coming decade. SKA was also identified via a poll as being among the top priorities of the United Kingdom communities.
Moreover, SKA will be a technological driving force in advancing industry and business in areas such as digital processing, high performance super-computing, sustainable energy solutions, low-consumption electronic devices, low-cost production techniques, production archiving, wide-area data transfer and the deployment of state of the art research networking capabilities on local, regional and global scales. Radio astronomy has a distinguished record in developing technologies and software that have applications to wider society.
Industry will play a crucial role in the detailed design, development, construction and operational phases of SKA. The scale of the infrastructure and the resulting requirement to mass manufacture many of its components necessitates the engagement of industry at an early stage in the project and on a scale not widely experienced in fundamental research. Major companies were already involved in the various SKA pathfinder projects. This enabled local companies to access new technology or larger markets. The demands of SKA in terms of a skilled workforce and its impact on individual economies will be substantial. Finally, undertakings such as SKA represent a fantastic opportunity to stimulate public interest in astronomy, physics, engineering and computing, as well as to develop an active and effective public education and outreach programme. Projects like SKA will surely excite and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. The UNAWE initiative adopted the philosophy that the early formative years are crucial in the development of the human value system. From the age of four upwards children can readily appreciate and enjoy the beauty of astronomical objects and can learn to develop a 'feeling' for the vastness of the universe. Exposure to inspirational astronomical themes could help broaden the minds and stimulate a world view.
SKA also benefited from funding via the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme preparatory phase study PREPSKA. The main technical deliverables of this phase were a fully costed design for the telescope and an evaluation of the site locations in terms of scientific and technical criteria. Much of the required technology was under development in the course of specific design studies. In addition, the construction of several SKA pathfinder telescopes around the world also contributed to the design. The final step of integrating the accumulated knowledge into a detailed system design for SKA was planned to take place from 2008 to 2011, under the aegis of PREPSKA, together with SKA project development office (SPDO).
The international founding agencies collaborated to provide SKA project with advice and guidance on various non-technical and scientific issues. In 2006, South Africa and Australia were selected as acceptable sites after conducting careful radio frequency interference (RFI) monitoring campaign. A definitive choice with respect to the final location of SKA was scheduled to take place from 2011 to 2012.
The main theme of the 2010 Forum meeting itself was 'SKA beyond astronomy'. The aim was to demonstrate the wide range of direct and indirect socioeconomic benefits that could be derived via investments in SKA and included the following aspects:
1. further evolve the process in which ongoing European and national policy developments identified SKA as one of the major priorities for the astronomical community in the next decade
2. support, nurture and advance international cooperation in an atmosphere in which all SKA stakeholders were present and that was conducive to both formal and informal discussions, leading to agreed and common approaches on complex and cross border issues, such as the alignment or phasing of global funding commitments, procurement and governance choices and site selection scenarios
3. foster and further develop the extensive SKA collaboration in the interface between science, research and development and industry in order to realise the optimal design of the array; actions such as the forum and its associated satellite events were essential in order to organise and mobilise SKA community in its very broadest manifestation
3. explore the opportunities that SKA and other large scale facilities might represent in terms of demonstrating that 'leading in technology is a prerequisite for leading in the marketplace', focussing on the concept of open innovation and the impact large research infrastructures could have in terms of innovation, sustainability and technological spin-off
4. reinforce the global position of Europe as a key player in international mega-science projects, on one hand facilitating a bottom-up approach and on the other hand strengthening a pan-European approach towards a programmatic and coherent plan for research infrastructures in general
5. highlight the potential of SKA as a vehicle for promoting a shared world view on the value of a global and cross-cultural approach to the promotion of the physical sciences, delivering tangible results in key areas such as early learning, training, citizen science and education, targeting under-privileged groups in various developing countries or specific sectors of society or the global family of nations, encouraging a broad approach on science awareness issues.
The event was branded by creating a special logo that integrated the Netherlands, the European Community and SKA project into one powerful image. This event log was used on all communications, press releases, website and decoration of the meeting venues. The decoration was done by banners that allowed multiple use, posters and the creation of the forum floor. A number of articles dedicated to the ISKAF event were also produced.
Simultaneously with the Forum an exhibition was organised. Participants were both candidate SKA sites, SKA project, ASTRON but also a number of global and regional industries. At total of 28 exhibitors were present. At the forum a life radio show hosted by Business News Radio (BNR), a Dutch radio station, was transmitted focussing on the collaboration between science and industry. The show paid special attention to the ASTRON collaboration with IBM in the LOFAR project, which was considered to be a SKA precursor. Moreover, a professional camera crew and a photographer captured the entire week, resulting in high quality coverage of the whole event.
A special part of the outreach programme was the cooperation with UNAWE. The project involved elementary school children on three continents being taught about astronomy by a 'real' astronomer. The schools were in Dwingeloo, the Netherlands and in the two SKA candidate sites, namely South Africa and Australia. After the lessons the children build their own telescope and, in a video exchange, presented their designs to each other. The result was captured in video movie that was presented at the forum. After the project 'Earth-balls', an educational tool to inform children about the Earth in the universe, was distributed to schools in the three countries.
The result of the outreach campaign was a huge attention in Dutch and international media via all possible pathways, e.g. twitter, blogs, national and regional newspapers, website, Dutch national television and radio news and similar regional channels.
As a result SKA project was put in the picture with a focus on the European contribution in the project. The collaboration was strengthened at all levels and a roadmap towards a SKA organisation was drafted. The attendance of high level politicians facilitated and catalysed the process which resulted in prioritising SKA project for the next decade.
The presence of all stakeholders in one week series of meetings allowed for a next step in practical issues concerning the future collaborations and in a useful exchange of knowledge and commitments. The mix of scientists, engineers, industry and politicians made the ISKAF2010 a unique event that boosted the realisation of SKA project, underlining the importance of Europe as a key player in international mega-science projects.
The large outreach programme addressed all participants of the forum on an almost individual level, paying special attention to the information requirements of the high-level guests. At the same time all participants were informed about the ISKAF2010 by a special newspaper available each morning at breakfast. After the forum all attendants received a glossy magazine with the highlights of the week in combination with a digital versatile disk (DVD) of the event. In addition, public outreach was addressed by numerous articles, items, tweets and blogs on international, national, regional and important in this respect specialised platforms. UNAWE made sure that even the youngest possible scientists were not overlooked.
Further information about the project could be found at http://www.iskaf2010.nl.