Professor Emeritus Akio Yasuda
Laboratory of Satellite Navigation
Graduate School of Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology
Chairman of the GPS Society of the Japan Institute of Navigation

It was only 30 years ago when the first GPS Block I satellite was launched in 1978. Hundreds of civil applications such as weather forecast, disaster management, surveying, car navigation, precise machine control have taken root deeply in our life. The shipment of the GPS mobile handset is supposed to be more than 440 million in 2011 in the world. In the area of the space based positioning, navigation and Timing (PNT) system, adding to existing system providers, the United States, Russia, the European Union, China, India, and Japan are going to become new providers of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) or regional augmentation systems in this decade. We are in Asia Oceania region (AOR) where is the best place to receive the earliest benefit from this new multi GNSS era. Japan will contribute to this unique region by providing the PNT services by Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS). The QZSS can significantly improve the PNT capability in Japan and neighboring area, especially in urban canyons and mountainous areas, as QZSS satellites will be seen at very high elevation angles in those regions. Moreover it can cover whole East Asia and Oceania region as a future multi GNSS augmentation system. Why don't you join the experiences and opportunities for new multi GNSS utilization which can make the benefits of PNT services maximum, by collaborating among academies, GNSS providers, receiver vendors, and solution partners in AOR countries. We will develop the foundation for the collaboration to the future. I am looking forward to your participations and contributions to the "Asia-Oceania Multi-GNSS Demonstration campaign".

Professor Chris Rizos
School of Surveying & Spatial Information Systems
University of New South Wales
Vice President of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG)
Member of the International GNSS Service (IGS) Governing Board

Today we cannot imagine not using GPS for personal and vehicular navigation, yet the most critical GPS applications are often the ones that do not make the headlines - the scientific and professional uses of GPS, from geodesy, to surveying and mapping, to precise positioning for industrial vehicle guidance. Ever since I started researching precise GPS positioning in 1984 I have seen a progressive enhancement of the capabilities of GPS, but I am very excited about what lies ahead.

Over the next decade we will see next generation Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) being deployed, including the U.S.'s modernised GPS-IIF and planned GPS-III, the revitalised (and later to be modernized) GLONASS from Russia, Europe's GALILEO system, and China's COMPASS system. Furthermore, a number of Space Based Augmentation Systems (such as Japan's QZSS), and Regional Navigation Satellite Systems (such as India's IRNSS) will add extra satellites and signals to the multi-constellation GNSS 'mix'. The future is bright, but we need to prepare ourselves. What we learned in the GPS-only era will have to be augmented with new knowledge, about receiver hardware, algorithms, applications and user requirements. A first step therefore is to advocate Asia-Oceania as the "showcase of the new GNSS era".