1.1. James Gosz, chairman of the GTOS Steering Committee (GTSC) meeting, welcomed the participants (see annex I) and invited them to briefly present themselves. On behalf of the members of the GTSC, he thanked the regional government of Cantabria for its generous offer to host the meeting, provide the excellent facilities and support the travel of members from developing countries. This was made possible through the efforts of Antonio Cendrero of the GTSC.
1.2. The agenda (see annex II) was discussed and adopted with a few changes in the schedule. Mr. Gosz stressed the importance of this meeting, in view of critical items it would be addressing. A number of actions were required from the steering committee, some of the important ones included finalizing the implementation plan; reviewing the draft data and information management plan; developing criteria for networks (size, types); reviewing and deciding on the establishment of a system of networks, a Network panel and a demonstration project; establishing other networks; identifying other programme components; and, deciding how to deal with terrestrial and space observations.
1.3. The Chairman indicated the meeting would be conducted in an open and informal atmosphere. The observers were invited to share their expertise and experience as they saw fit during the proceedings. Decisions would be taken by consensus among the steering committee members; if necessary formal procedures could be used to adopt motions from the floor.
