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The European GNSS Agency (GSA) discusses how using European GNSS (i.e., Galileo and EGNOS) with Copernicus, Europe’s Earth Observation programme, can help the world meet its Sustainable Development Goals as set out by the United Nations.

On paper, Europe’s flagship space programmes – Galileo and Copernicus – serve very different functions. Whereas Galileo provides users with high accuracy positioning and navigation, Copernicus, an Earth Observation system, analyses and provides the characteristics of a given area. Both programmes create an array of opportunities for new applications and business ideas individually, but perhaps their true potential is found within their synergies. 

Although the joint use of Galileo and Copernicus creates opportunities in nearly every market segment, it is set to play a particularly important role in sustainable development. “While Galileo and EGNOS determine a precise position anytime, anywhere on the globe, Copernicus provides information on the Earth’s surface, its atmosphere and marine systems,” says GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides. “The joint use of both programmes unleashes an array of synergies that will undoubtedly have a substantial impact on sustainable development.”

Des Dorides’ remarks were made during his presentation at the United Nations’ High Level Forum on Space as a Driver for Socio-Economic Sustainable Development, held 6 – 9 November in Dubai, UAE. Jointly organised by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency, the forum’s focus was on the use of space technology and, in particular, the combined use of European GNSS and Copernicus, in helping the world meet its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as set out in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The goals include ending poverty and hunger, ensuring healthy lives and quality education, promoting sustainable growth and reducing inequality – among others.

“Although Europe’s two flagship space programmes are capable of great achievements separately, it is through synergies that their true capabilities are unleashed,” says UNOOSA Director Simonetta Di Pippo. “The best results will be achieved when telecommunications, GNSS and Earth Observation satellites and services collaborate to achieve common goals and meet clearly stated user requirements.”

Supporting users across market many segments

The UN recognises the important role that Earth Observation and geolocation (provided by GNSS) play in supporting the achievement of its development goals. These services support a continuously increasing number of users in many different market segments. For example, one area already benefiting from their combined use is precision agriculture.

As farmers’ needs become increasingly sophisticated, they turn towards precision agriculture as a solution for higher productivity and farm profitability. While the technology has a variety of uses, the main application for precision agriculture is tractor guidance, where GNSS-based positioning applications can be used to guide a tractor around a field and minimise the effort exerted by a farmer. Moreover, Earth Observation satellites provide imagery of agricultural fields, along with radar, topographical and altimetry information. “When used together, the farmer benefits from an increase in efficiency and a decrease in labour costs,” explains des Dorides.

From providing the maps needed for finding the best locations for renewable energy infrastructure to outlining the most fuel-efficient flight paths, optimising road transportation routes and monitoring CO2 emissions, applications using both European GNSS and Earth Observation (such as Copernicus) provide the answer. However, according to des Dorides, the potential of this convergence goes far beyond the application level. “Integrated actions targeting application developers, data resellers, hardware manufacturers and end-users will further stimulate innovation and increase the use of space technology,” he says.

“This is where our focus now turns,” adds des Dorides. “I look forward to working with the UN as we enhance the convergence of European GNSS and Earth Observation data to create new solutions that will help us achieve our mutual sustainable development goals.”  

Joint study now available

The presentation served as a preface to a study on the role of European GNSS and Earth Observation in supporting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study, “EGNSS and COPERNICUS: Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals. Building blocks towards the 2030 Agenda”, has been jointly prepared by GSA and UNOOSA in the frame of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in July 2016 to develop common activities towards increased use of space data at application level. Specifically, the study investigates how EU space technologies support the fulfilment of the UN SDGs by means of examples and use cases. The analysis shows that all the SDGs are positively impacted by the benefits stemming from the use of EGNSS and Copernicus applications and that almost 40% of the associated indicators directly benefit from using the EGNSS and Copernicus services, either supporting the monitoring of the status of achievement of a given SDG or actively contributing to their fulfilment.

The study has recently been published, and is available for download here.

GEO-VISION: A Case Study in Synergy

Precise and up-to-date information on damage and needs during emergencies is key to plan and conduct response and rehabilitation efforts in areas affected by disasters. In this context, technology enables responders to better coordinate rescue missions and work efficiently as soon as they arrive in a disaster zone.

The Horizon 2020 project GEO-VISION aims to save lives and to protect critical infrastructures during emergencies and disasters by optimizing the use of satellite data ranging from satellite communication and navigation to earth observation.

How does it work?

The core of the project is a mission-critical visual communication software solution wherein the end users upload imagery of disaster-struck areas to disaster response and emergency management operators. Data from the crisis site are sent to the control centre using satellite communications or mobile networks, depending on availability.

Within the system, the operational pictures can be taken from Earth Observation satellites providing large scale aerial situation, from UAVs monitoring more in detail the affected infrastructures or from other sources such as smartphones of the crisis response teams. GNSS is used to provide trust in the data and in the communications by geo-localizing and time-stamping picture information. Trust countermeasures includes Galileo signal authentication for spoofing and jamming.

The project already resulted in the creation of three smartphone apps available for iOS and Android, with the end user group encompassing the United Nations, EU, World Bank and insurance companies.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

The second day of the Tenth Conference on European Space Policy in Brussels saw a significant contribution from GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides on the role of European GNSS and other EU space systems in the future of Europe, digitalisation and competitiveness. The conference, which has become Europe’s premier annual forum for space policy debate, took place on 23 and 24 January 2018 with the overall theme of ‘More Space for more Europe – stronger together’.

Des Dorides’ contribution followed opening remarks for the second day from Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, who emphasised the positive links between space and digital policy and the need to ensure a “fair and correct” digital infrastructure that served the needs of all European citizens. “Space has a major role to play in a digital Europe,” she said. And GSA, Galileo and EGNOS have a key role.

Space is an increasingly important component for a prosperous Europe and an asset for a more connected society and economy. The European GNSS Agency (GSA) and the flagship Galileo programme are essential elements of the EU’s space programme. But how does this fit with the digital agenda?

"Space is enabling the digitally connected world that we are only starting to appreciate now, but that will be the world of future generations,” said Carlo des Dorides. “Satellite navigation, positioning and timing enables ubiquitous connectivity between people, services and infrastructures."

The World is changing fast. There are now more than five billion smartphones in use in the World – in the EU there are more smartphones than humans. These devices place in citizens’ hands powerful sensors and computing. Geolocation is becoming ubiquitous and where the smartphone goes, internet goes too. And for this, two components - content and connectivity – were developing in parallel, said des Dorides.

Today, as the physical limits of Moore’s law on computing power are being reached, computing is moving into invisible infrastructure such as embedded computing and cloud computing. Satellite technologies were part of this invisible infrastructure offering added security from cyber-attacks compared to terrestrial systems.

Knowledge is key 

“Knowledge building is crucial for the future of Europe,” said des Dorides. “And investing in innovation is key to shaping this fast-changing world.” Europe needs to ensure that it can access the right talent to ensure continuing prosperity.

Galileo is providing excellent infrastructure for jobs and growth in Europe. “Today some 50 000 jobs in Europe are linked to the implementation of Galileo and EGNOS in downstream industries,” claimed des Dorides. “This compares to some 3 000 jobs in upstream industries.”

“By switching from a satellite launch model to a business service model, the GSA has enabled the Galileo application market to grow and contribute to a more prosperous and successful Europe,” concluded des Dorides.

Christian Ehler, MEP and member of the European Parliament’s industry (ITRE) Committee reinforced the value of satellite technologies to EU competitiveness, jobs and growth and said that his party, the European Peoples Party (EPP), would be supporting the space budget in the forthcoming Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) discussions to ensure full implementation of the EU’s flagship satellite programmes: Galileo and Copernicus.

In later panel discussions on ‘Space for security and defence in Europe: beyond the dual-use’ Tomasz Husak, Head of Cabinet for European Commissioner Bieńkowska praised the progress made during 2017 and that Galileo was now delivering the most precise signal on Earth: “at the room level rather than just the house” he claimed. And he looked forward to the launch of Galileo’s PRS secure signal.

Jorge Domecq, Chief Executive, European Defence Agency, also emphasised the dual use capabilities of both the Copernicus and Galileo satellite systems.

Roberto Battiston, President of the Italian Space Agency reminded the conference that if the EU wanted to become the reliable global space power for peace and development, it needed to build up its workforce and capability, reinforcing the point made earlier by Carlo des Dorides.

Closing praise

In his closing remarks, Jerzy Buzek, MEP, Chair of the European Parliament’s ITRE Committee, also highlighted the MFF debate and underlined the need for adequate funding to “carry on the success of Galileo, Copernicus and EGNOS” and take on the emerging issues, such as cyber security.

In particular, he felt that the GSA required more resources. “This is a potential risk to one of our flagship projects,” he claimed and called on the European Commission to ensure adequate funding for the agency. “The ITRE Committee was ready to support this,” he said.

Finally, Emil Karanikolov, the Bulgarian Minister of Economy, concluded the conference on behalf of the European Council Presidency. He said the presidency was “convinced of the strategic nature of the sector” and the need to “take the possibilities given by space policy.”

He praised the EU flagship satellite programmes, Galileo and Copernicus, calling them undoubted successes. He said that the Bulgarian Presidency would support the success of these leading EU programmes, adding that their development and continuity were of paramount importance as drivers of jobs, growth and competitiveness.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).