In the last 50 years global population has doubled, and the global GDP has grown fourfold. In parallel, various environmental problems like water scarcity, climate change and depletion of critical natural resources have been growing at a high rate in part due to the impact of energy intensive industries. During this period, the annual global [...]
Insurance is a millennial practice for transferring or distributing risk, to protect from financial loss. As an Earth Observation (EO) market, Insurance is traditionally a small one, but an emerging approach called parametric insurance recently opens new opportunities for EO service providers. If traditional insurance products indemnify for an actual loss sustained, parametric insurance contracts offer a means [...]
Information technologies, telecommunication, robotics and in general, autonomous systems are set to transform many global industries. All these technologies currently have, and will have in the future, the greatest impact on large sectors of the economy. One such sector is undeniably the agricultural and food (agri-food) sector which is a dominant and vital component in [...]
When Golden Earring famously sang the lyric “We’ve got a light in the sky, radar love” all the way back in 1973, little did they know just how much those “lights” (or radars) in the sky would add to our world years later. Just like in the song “Radar Love”, industry is continually learning to [...]
What is smart specialisation (strategy), and why is it important? The Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) is a policy concept developed as an instrument for boosting national or regional innovation, specifically focused on the strengths and the competitive advantages of a region, through enhancement of partnerships between businesses, public entities, and knowledge institutions. Registered countries and [...]
In the language of Earth Observation (EO), “in situ data” is the common denomination of data deriving from ground-based, sea-borne or air-borne monitoring systems, as well as geospatial reference or ancillary data. In situ sensors can be carried by, among others, air balloons, ground stations, or ferry boxes. In situ serves validation and calibration of [...]
Innovators seeking for new and marketable EO solutions typically combine the use of free and rich Copernicus Sentinel data with a number of important enabling technologies such as Big Data, Cloud Computing, the Internet of Things, Deep Learning or Artificial Intelligence. There are many examples of successful use of EO enabled solutions across a large [...]
Drones are increasingly used as a source of information that complements data provided by satellite-based remote sensing (e.g. Copernicus Sentinels) and eventually in-situ data sensors. These Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) enable more flexibility, increased accuracy or specific actions or analyses (e.g. hyperspectral imaging) and their rapidly growing global commercial market size in 2018 had already [...]
Among larger corporations, it is fashionable to have one, whilst many cities are claiming to be one. We are talking of course of “Innovation Hubs”, a widely used term for central places where innovation activities take place. While companies often define these as dedicated offices that are designed, equipped and staffed with creativity in mind, [...]
Developing countries are defined as low and middle income countries that, compared to industrialised countries, have a less developed industrial base relative to their population. They are facing common challenges related to health, food security, lack of infrastructure and utilities (e.g. electricity, water, sewage), or pollution. Given local conditions, they may suffer from natural disasters [...]
