CPTF: The task force laying the foundations for the future SKA Observatory Council

In February, the SKA’s Council Preparatory Task Force (CPTF) held its penultimate face-to-face meeting at SKA Headquarters.

Chaired by Patricia Kelly – previously IP Australia Director General and former SKA Board member – the CPTF represents all seven signatories to the SKA Observatory Convention, plus those countries which have expressed a bona fide intent to join at a later date as well as observers. Its task, as the name suggests, is to prepare all of the policies and documentation required for the SKA Observatory Council – the future governing body of the SKA when it becomes an intergovernmental organisation – to hit the ground running at its first meeting.

Since forming the day after the Convention was signed in March 2019, the CPTF has held an impressive 12 meetings in just 11 months. Members have had to rapidly cover a huge amount in this short time frame, including negotiations on such major policy issues as SKA project funding; the critical “Tier 2” policy documents on things like operations, access, procurement and intellectual property; membership arrangements as the project comes online; and preparations for the transition of the current SKA Organisation, to the future SKA Observatory.

“Coming to consensus on these key policy issues is a significant undertaking,” said CPTF Executive Officer Jerry Skinner. “But progress over the last 12 months has been excellent and I think, with more of these important discussions due to take place in coming months, future Members and Observers will be very well prepared for that crucial first Council meeting likely to be in July.”

There will be two subject-specific CPTF video-conferences in March and April, with the final three-day face-to-face CPTF meeting due to take place in May at SKA HQ.