Distinguished Guests, Ladies, and Gentlemen:

It is my great honor to welcome you all to attend the 10^th International Conference on Earth Observations and Social Impacts (ICEO&SI) as a Founder of Taiwan Group on Earth Observations (TGEO). The 10^th ICEO&SI is initiated by TGEO and held with joint efforts by a prestigious university National Central University (NCU). The conference can never be successfully carried out without the dedication and devotion of all the people who work hard together, especially under the leadership of Prof. & Dean Shu-Kun Hsu and Prof. & Chairman Hwa Chien, to arrange numerous details for the awesome programs, sessions, venue, and joyful activities.

TGEO aims to promote international cooperation and exchange. In 2010, it was established with a kick-off Workshop on Earth Observations. In 2011, the first ICEO&SI was started. Since then, the ICEO&SI has become an annual platform for gathering scientists to resolve the global threats that human beings are facing. In 2014-2015, TGEO, GISA of Japan and KAGIS of Korea jointly proposed to form an international association to share advancements in the fields of Remote Sensing, Geographic Information System, Global Navigation Satellite Systems, …etc. In 2016, the International Association of Geo-informatics (IAG’i) was officially formed and held by the three countries, and its annual assembly was held in turn by GISA, KAGIS and TGEO. In 2019, it became a consensus among the three associations to welcome new international bodies to join IAG’i during GISA Annual Meeting held in Tokushima, Japan.

In addition, the International Conference on Earth Observations and Nature Hazards (ICEO&NH), a sister conference of ICEO&SI, was started in 2017 after its 2016 kick-off meeting held in Hanoi by IG, VAST (Institute of Geography, Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology). The ICEO&NH is co-hosted by TGEO, and other public and private units, and is evolving into another international platform of knowledge exchange.

Up to this time, more than 1700 academics, researchers, engineers and students from over 23 countries of 5 continents had fruitful and pleasant experiences at the previous ICEO&SI conferences. Also, more than 933 papers (560 oral papers and 363 posters) and 62 keynote and invited speeches have been delivered with many of them published in the special issues of prestigious journals, including Remote Sensing, Atmospheric Research, and TAO. The ICEO&SI 2020 will inherit the heritage to provide all participants an excellent international symposium.

Last but not least, my sincere appreciations are due to all the organizers and all the people who contribute efforts to make the Conference possible and successful. I wish all of you a delightful experience about Hakka culture and nature beauty of the Taoyuan City. Also, I wish you all a pleasant and fruitful participation in the conference. Look forward to welcoming you all in ICEO&SI 2020.

Yuei-An Liou

Distinguished Professor & Academician, National Central University

Founder, TGEO

Honorary President, Vietnamese Experts Association in Taiwan

Foreign Member, RAS; Member, IAA; Crystal Achievement Award, VAST