Making the African Skies Safer

The first session of the joint EC-ICTP project, Training EGNOS GNSS in Africa (TREGA), which is funded by the European Union trough an EC-ICTP Contribution Agreement, is underway at ICTP.  The main aim of this project, which began on 15 July 2013, is to train professionals working in Africa to implement the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) effectively.

Researchers from ICTP's Telecommunications/ICT for Development Laboratory, who have developed the NeQuick model used by the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), are involved in organizing the TREGA training sessions. EGNOS is the first pan-European satellite navigation system, and the EC along with ICTP is working toward extending the use of EGNOS to Africa.

Sandro Radicella, head of the laboratory says that a lot needs to be done in Africa's aviation sector to ensure that air navigation is safe and cost-effective and meets international standards.  "One of the objectives of the TREGA Project is to train members of the EGNOS-Africa Joint Programme Office on different GNSS and EGNOS technology," he says. "The participants will also be trained in service provisions and applied legal and regulatory matters," he adds.

The first session of the TREGA project is dedicated to space projects management and the legal and regulatory aspects.  Istituto Superiore Mario Boella, Turin, Italy, and Pildo Labs., Barcelona, Spain, are collaborating with ICTP to conduct these training sessions.

Further details are available in the TREGA newsletter.