Observatories join forces for Big Science forum

BY MATTHEW TAYLOR (SKAO)

SKAO colleagues met international peers during the Big Science Business Forum (BSBF) 2022 in Granada, Spain.

The congress brought together around 1,500 delegates from the main European-based Intergovernmental Organisations (IGO) and government representatives between 4-7 October to share best practice in procurement and meet suppliers.

Following the inaugural BSBF in Copenhagen in 2018, it represented the first face-to-face meetings between organisations sharing common challenges and Big Science objectives.

SKAO D-G Prof. Philip Diamond gave a plenary speech to delegates and Head of Procurement Services Ian Hastings participated in a round table discussion.

Ian said: “We and other IGOs share a lot of the same challenges in common in terms of procurement, such as inflation and scarcity of raw materials. It was interesting to see the agility and creativity with which they’re meeting those challenges, and to share our own experiences with them.”

Head of the D-G’s Office, Dr Simon Berry, was part of the SKAO delegation attending BDBF.

He said: “On the policy side, it was really good to talk to our compatriots in these other organisations about the fact that we all have the same kind of issues: pressures on budgets; the impact of the global economic situation.”

On the sidelines of the Forum, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA) hosted a roundtable involving the SKAO, the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), and the European Southern Observatory (ESO), moderated by the IAA’s Deputy Science Director, Isabel Márquez.

D-G Prof. Philip Diamond joined ESO Director-General Xavier Barcons and CTAO Project Manager Wolfgang Wild to elaborate on their respective observatories’ scientific goals, technology, impact, and governance. The three organisations are all major international collaborations, with numerous member states involved, with Spain being involved in all three organisations.

“Working with nations as diverse as China to Canada, or India to Spain and SKAO’s three host countries -to name just a few- is a joy”, said Prof Diamond. “All of them have the same goal through their involvement in large-scale astronomy infrastructures, and that is: build the telescopes, do the science we’ve laid out, get a social and economic return for their taxpayers’ money, and do so in a sustainable manner. It is on us, representing all our members, to deliver on this ambition and get the job done.

SKAO Director-General Prof. Philip Diamond, sixth from the right, alongside delegates at BSBF.

IAA