Abstract
It is generally acknowledged thatservices play an essential role in geodesy and, consequently, in the International Association of Geodesy (IAG). Services are not a recent invention within the IAG. They accompany the Association since its creation.Services in general (not only within IAG) are (should be) created if a well defined user community can be identified needing well defined products. Recent examples within the IAG are the creation of the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) in. 1987 and the creation of the International GPS Service (IGS) in 1991 (officially approved by IAG in 1994).The IGS and the IERS are probably the best known IAG services with an impact reaching far beyond geodetic applications. There are many more services within IAG, however.In our analysis we first characterize a scientific service, then we comment the current situation of IAG(-related) services; as a case study we briefly review the activities of the IERS and the IGS. We conclude with some thoughts concerning the future role of the IAG services.
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