The formally known SKA Observatory, based at the iconic Jodrell Bank Observatory, has divulged its future SKAO branding.
In a comprehensive book discussing the brand changes, SKAO has outlined its defining mission and values of its observatory, citing excellence, diversity and inclusion, excellence collaboration, innovation, creativity, sustainability, in addition to a logo and visual identity embodying these.
The organisation became an intergovernmental organisation on 15 January 2021. After years of meticulous planning, the neoteric observatory will accommodate the construction and management of two brand new telescopes throughout the next decade – which will be the most technologically advanced radio telescopes in the world.
Philip Diamond, the SKAO Director-General Prof, said: “The SKAO brand unveiled today befits the scale and ambition of the SKA Project, and defines our vision for our impact on the world, our mission as a world-leading Observatory, and our core values.
“All these elements will guide us as we embark on this exciting new decade for the project towards delivering world-class science that will transform our understanding of the Universe.”
The initial SKA brand was created in 2011, forming the SKA Organisation to manage pre-construction of the SKA project – which was originally developed as a community competition, with 20-years of hard work seeing the organisation evolve from a community-driven, science-led institutional collaboration to a sovereign state-funded intergovernmental organisation.
SKAO is only the second intergovernmental organisation dedicated to astronomy, with the brand announcement signifying its transition from a limited company to an intergovernmental organisation on 1 May. The brand design process incorporated the consultation of over 400 stakeholders in 40 countries, including astronomy professionals, partner organisations, SKAO governance bodies, SKAO staff, project engineers, science and astronomy communicators, and members of the public.
William Garnier, SKAO’s Director of Communications, said: “We wanted this process to be as inclusive as possible from the start, to reflect collectively on the fundamentals of our new observatory: why does this international endeavour exist? What are we hoping to achieve together? And how will we be contributing to society? None of these things are necessarily self-evident, as with our many stakeholders, the SKA Project is many things to many people.
“I am extremely pleased with where we landed and feel this brand, we are launching today truly reflects who we are and who we are meant to become as a global observatory. We would really like to thank all stakeholders for their valuable inputs, including our partners at the intergovernmental organisations CERN, ESO, ESA and EMBL, as well as UK Research and Innovation, the Royal Astronomical Society and Vera Rubin Observatory, for their help and advice during this process.”
