For the last two years and under the stewardship of outgoing Chairman Dave Hodgson, the British Association of Remote Sensing Companies has made great strides in improving its level of communication with member companies and growing its lobbying power. Following the recent AGM, the responsibility of overseeing the association’s continued expansion and influence passes to Chetan Pradhan as he takes the Chair for the next two years.

Chetan Pradhan is the Earth Observation Account Manager at Logica and has served on the BARSC Executive Committee for five years, the last two as Vice-Chairman. With Chetan’s election to the role of Chairman, the role of Vice-Chairman will be filled by Gareth Crisford of ITT Visual Information Solutions.

Chetan said of this election: “I am delighted to have been elected to the chairmanship of BARSC and to have the opportunity to champion the interests of British remote sensing companies. The next two years promise substantial opportunities for our sector, as the awareness and demand grows for remote sensing services to meet today’s environmental, climate-related and commercial challenges. I would like to thank Dave Hodgson for his hard work and dedication in the role for the past two years, and hope to continue and build upon his outstanding work for the association.”

The British Association of Remote Sensing Companies (BARSC) works to promote the interests of all member organisations and individuals who work with remote sensing technology and data. The remote sensing industry is hugely important to the UK economy and this is set to increase with the formation of the International Space Innovation Centre at Harwell.

BARSC has a key role to play in this expanding marketplace by ensuring that the requirements of its members are fully represented and publicised, and that end-user customers, investors, academia and the public understand the offerings from each of the companies.

The association represents the whole range of the industry from multinational companies through medium sized enterprises as well as start-up companies of one or two people. Companies interested in learning more about membership should visit the BARSC website (www.barsc.org.uk).