Free Astronomy Magazine September-October 2023

S KAO Director General Phil Dia- mond (centre left) and ESO Director General Xavier Barcons (centre right) signed a cooperation agreement between the two organ- isations on 24 July 2023 at ESO’s Headquarters in Garching, Germany. Bruno Leibundgut (ESO Director for Science, left), Adrian Russell (ESO Director of Programmes, sec- ond from left), Nikolaj Gube (ESO Deputy Head of the Office for Legal and Institutional Affairs, second from right) and Michael Hilker (ESO Faculty Chair and Head of the Office for Science Garching, right) were also present at the ceremony. [ESO] ing the southern skies with ESO and SKAO facilities earlier this year. The new agreement strengthens this collaboration by promoting the strategic coordination of ESO’s and SKAO’s long-term plans. It estab- lishes a framework for mutual coop- eration and exchange of informa- tion between ESO and SKAO, with regard to scientific investigation, research and development, and business enabling activities. More specifically, the agreement pro- motes the exchange of information in areas concerning technical devel- opments and the broad scientific community, as well as cooperation on technology, software, business and governance. !