RT Conference Proceedings SR 00 A1 Heumesser, C. A1 Fritz, S. A1 Obersteiner, M. T1 Identifying benefits and challenges arising from the voluntary provision of GEOSS YR 2011 FD 10-15 April 2011 K1 Game theory; GEOSS; Public good; User survey AB Even though the efforts to contribute to and sustain the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) are voluntary, the derived benefits will be enjoyed by contributors and non-contributors alike. Thus, GEOSS can be classified as a public good, whose provision is prone to "free- riding". We analyze the benefits of participating in GEO (Group on Earth Observation) and GEOSS as well as the potential problems arising from voluntary contribution to GEOSS. We survey economic and game theoretic literature to see what type of problems, related to the provision of public goods, are described. Secondly, we conduct a survey among individuals involved in various GEOSS tasks, to find out about their perception, benefits and problems regarding GEO and GEOSS. First results show that benefits from participating in GEO include improved networking opportunities and visibility for work. Overall, contribution to GEOSS was perceived as rather low and lacking financial support was regarded as impediment. T2 34th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment - The GEOSS Era: Towards Operational Environmental Monitoring ED Sydney, NSW; Australia AV Published LK https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/13407/ UL http://www.isprs.org/proceedings/2011/ISRSE-34/211104015Final00830.pdf