The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), both based in Geneva, have signed co-operation agreements with CERN. This follows the signing of an agreement with the International Telecommunication Union in May. A common thread in the three agreements is the stimulation of technological innovation.
The director-general of WIPO, Francis Gurry, and CERN’s director-general, Rolf Heuer, signed an agreement on 20 August to strengthen collaboration between the two organizations. The co-operation agreement, which is to be ratified by the WIPO Co-ordination Committee, focuses on four main areas: capacity building, awareness raising and knowledge sharing; transfer of technology and know-how; co-operation in the area of technological, scientific and patent information and options for alternative dispute resolution for IP-related matters.
Image credit: WIPO.
The co-operation agreement with WMO is to promote the sharing of information and knowledge in information technologies, in line with WMO’s policy to foster global scientific and technical collaboration. It was signed by WMO secretary-general Michel Jarraud and CERN’s director-general, Rolf Heuer, on 26 August. Areas of potential collaboration include: high-bandwidth-capacity networks for exchange of observations and information; collaborative on-line software tools for data and information analysis; management of mass data and storage systems; and capacity building and e-education tools, especially in developing nations.
