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Grace Ltd, an independent Athens-based Space consultancy firm offers a set of services focusing on the marketing of valuable solutions and the set-up of sustainable projects, including but not limited to Earth Observation (EO).

The company operates in the zone of the Eastern Mediterranean covering the Balkan Peninsula as well, with Greece as the focal point.

Overview

Grace Ltd is a young Greek SME established in late 2008 in Athens. The mission of the company is to provide independent technology and consulting services, promoting and guiding the space industry development and directing its benefits to the society and the environment in Greece and the greater Eastern Mediterranean region. The company is a dynamic partner contributing to local capacity building.

In 2009 Grace joined EARSC, taking the benefit of privileged access to global information and valuable interaction concerning European policy, strategy and industry issues in Space matters.

Through the performance of targeted market studies, various partnerships and continuous interaction with local actors in its zone of activity, Grace consolidated its knowledge of the local and regional tissue in 2010 and extended its networking capabilities. In parallel, through the Programme of the European Commission for Young Entrepreneurs, the company acquired solid competence accompanied by experienced EO actors possessing worldwide operations and global view.

The company has chosen a cooperative approach permitting the access to a very large zone and today is an active partner of P.L.A.N. Inc www.planinc.com and Mea Intuis SARL www.earth-observation.com , which are two top-caliber consulting firms in the sector of Earth Observation with over 15 years of successful experience worldwide. In parallel the firm has established strong ties with a number of players of the European and not only Space market and industry, several high-level experts and consultants as well.

Today the company activities are concentrated in the business development and marketing of programmes, projects, products and services and in building up capacity. GRACE has the ability to rapidly assembly a team of commercial, industry or research actors and to successfully face any challenge concerning the implementation of sustainable EO ventures.

Regional Competence

Grace has made the strategic choice of targeting the international market since the beginning of its operations and to focus in a well defined zone as well, in the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia. In this much heterogeneous and sensitive region, very rich on history and culture, Earth Observation and other Space technologies could provide a substantial progress on the local and regional environment. The company has progressively acquired a thorough knowledge on the needs, perspectives, risks, opportunities and challenges of this zone.

Marketing and Capacity Building Competence

One of the essential skills the firm displays is related to marketing/business development activities. Grace has a dedicated team of experienced consultants with strong background and long track record in the matter. Promotion and international marketing of Space-related technology and capacity is the cornerstone of the company operations.

Grace consulting activities focus on capacity building and the master of required analysis, management, deployment and follow up. This competence also marks the firm’s philosophy and vision which is the achievement of long term progress through the use of Space assets, especially for monitoring and protecting the environment and the society.

Space and Earth Observation Expertise

The company disposes of an internal capacity and also of a large network of consultants and experts in the field of Space and in particular in the applications sector. This team, involved in various large-scale Programmes for the last 20 years is able to provide value and to offer independent advice and customized consulting services.

The thematic areas of expertise comprise a wide range of activities from policy deployment and Programmes development to commercial assistance and business development, and from infrastructure and organizational purposes to support on contracts, market studies, business plans or specific technical guidance.

Our consultants possess a deep knowledge of the Space sector and in particular of the Earth Observation market challenges, products, services and players and an outstanding experience as for the use of satellite infrastructure for a multitude of purposes.

Industry and Market View

Europe has certainly done steps forward in Space applications and Earth Observation, but still remain several drawbacks, inertia, overlap, confusion. Funds are not missing but often driven by research and technology push rather than users’ real needs. Costly Programmes haven’t convinced yet. Discussions and events about regional development are taking places all over Europe but not the results. Much money is used for developing methods, tools and process in small scale; why not allocate more for allowing end-users in need to use the technology in larger scale as well?

Our continent’s industry receives funding through a multitude of ways and this is certainly a necessary support and a demonstrated interest from the policy makers. But what is the true outcome and return on investment if this industry has difficulties to convince markets outside Europe and even provide sustainable solutions for the European end-users? In Earth Observation sector, for European products and services, the sales in Europe are 5 times more important than in all the rest of the world (from recent Eurospace Facts&Figures). Inefficient industrial and commercial strategies over the export markets combined with fierce international competition could bring additional trouble. This is Grace’s synthetic look at today’s European industry.

Being in between European zones under development and neighboring markets, the firm underlines the necessity for more competitiveness, efficient cooperation, sustainable development and tangible results in regions outside Europe.

Perspectives and Expectations

Grace has been created in an extremely harsh environment and has been directly affected by the financial crisis in the Euro zone and precisely the economic slump in Greece and the Balkan countries, the Arab unrest in North Africa as well. Despite those facts, the company maintained and diversified its activities, enlarged its partnerships base and focused on well understanding markets and customers.

“Gaining and efficiently exploiting access to European funding will be a key issue in order to implement capacity-building projects in our zone of activity” according to Mr. Dimitris Matsakis, Chairman of Grace. “The needs and intentions of end-users for building up things are often here, but national contribution is hard to find in a large number of countries, and the money usually goes to other priorities”.

Grace priorities are strengthening position in the overall area on the one hand and focusing on a set of identified and specific market needs on the other.

“We do not exclude to merge our activities and our competences with those of our partners, which would lead to establish a strong network capitalizing the expertise, skills and presence in 3 continents and more than 20 countries” adds Mr. Matsakis

Contact:
Grace Ltd, Athens – GREECE
For further information please contact Mr. Dimitris Matsakis, Chairman: dmatsakis (at) graceapplications.com or visit www.graceapplications.com

PDF:grace-efficient-and-focused-consultancy-services

Recognising the value of using Earth observation satellite data to support development activities, ESA and the World Bank will work together on several projects through the ‘eoworld’ joint initiative.

ESA and the World Bank first started collaborating two years ago when ESA carried out small-scale pilot projects that demonstrated the potential of Earth observation for the Bank’s operations.

Based on the pilots’ promising outcomes, Earth observation information will now be scaled up and incorporated into 12 World Bank activities in the marine environment, water resources management, urban development, urban and disaster risk management, and agriculture and forestry.

“The breadth of applications of Earth observation services shows the value of these services as useful tools to World Bank teams in the planning, implementation, monitoring and assessment of their ongoing and future projects,” said Anthony Bigio, senior urban specialist at the World Bank and coordinator of the eoworld initiative.

“The ultimate goal of these services is to help the World Bank offer better informed advice to our client partners.”

World Bank teams defined the requirements for the geo-information that will be provided across operations in Africa, South and Latin America, South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific.

The Earth observation information products will be generated by specialist companies from across Europe and delivered to the Bank’s staff and local stakeholders by the end of 2011.

A two-day event took place in April at World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC, that brought ESA, the World Bank and Earth observation information companies together to get the projects started.

“The main aim of the eoworld initiative is to demonstrate the value of European and Canadian satellites, both ESA and national missions, and the capabilities of specialised value-adding companies that can provide information services to benefit the World Bank’s operations,” said Stephen Coulson, ESA’s Head of Industry Section.

Expanding collaboration

During the April meeting, the Bank hosted a side event that focused on the role of satellite data in reducing risks from disasters.

The session featured presentations from the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters, an initiative set up by ESA and the French space agency, CNES, to provide satellite data to rescue workers in the event of natural or man-made disasters.

The activities of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) were also highlighted. The Bank manages the GFDDR to help developing countries reduce their vulnerability to natural hazards and adapt to climate change.

Following discussions, ESA and GFDDR identified new possibilities for collaboration, including World Bank disaster risk management teams participating in an ESA event in May 2012 that focuses on Earth observation satellites and geo-hazard risks.

Related Links:

World Bank
World Bank eoworld

Over the last 2 years, The European Space Agency (ESA) has intensified dialogue with Multi-National Development Banks (e.g. World Bank, European Investment Bank, etc) regarding the use of EO-based information within their operations.

This is being carried out under the Value-Adding Element of EOEP, which aims to support specialist EO service providers (value-adding companies and organisations) to develop sustainable business.

Although the general potential of EO is well-recognised by the Banks, there is a need to demonstrate this potential for the specific requirements of Bank projects.

The longer-term goal is to convince Banks that EO technology should be referenced as ‘best practice’ to be used in the planning, implementation, monitoring and assessment of future Bank projects and operations.

This ongoing exercise is now focussing on the specific needs of the “European Investment Bank” (EIB).

An ITT (ESRIN/AO/1-6584/11/I-AM) has been issued on EMITS with closing date on 2 Sep 2011 at 12:00 hrs.
The ITT specifies the EO products/services to be produced and delivered in support of 11 different projects within the Bank.

Source ESA

In this EOMAG issue, EARSC has the opportunity to feature an interview with the representative of the Sustainable Development Network of the World Bank, Mr Anthony Gad Bigio. We wanted to ask some questions relevant for the use of geo-information on financial institutions and sustainable development projects…


EO Service Development

Satellite data is used by World Bank teams to assess disaster risk, study water resources, forecast manifestations of climate change, monitor the state of agricultural and natural resources, measure city growth, and carry out many other assessments

Can you describe in a simple way your daily work at the sustainable development offices of the World Bank? Could you explain how your team is assisting the sustainable development projects? How these units working in a particular project are coordinated?

At the World Bank, the identification of development projects is done in partnership with national agencies and authorities, and their preparation is carried out by colleagues in the six regional vice-presidencies. Each of these has what we call “sector units” which are in charge of water, environment, urban development, etc. Colleagues at the central departments, such as me, try to facilitate their work by providing sector policies as well as link with external agencies that can bring other necessary financial and technical resources.

The World Bank and the European Space Agency (ESA) are now partnering for the purpose of mainstreaming the use of EO into the World Bank’s lending operations, across all sectors but especially in development work… is “eoworld” the first initiative at the World Bank approaching the Earth Observation services? Could you explain further about the initiative from the WB point of view? Does cooperation with other space agencies take a similar approach or is this one different?

Recognising the value of using Earth observation satellite data to support development activities, ESA and the World Bank are working together on several projects through the ‘eoworld’ joint initiative

EO-world is certainly the first initiative of this kind for the World Bank in the realm of earth observation, given its structured nature, the underlying partnership with the European Space Agency, and the number of parallel projects and EO applications (12) it supports. What we are trying to demonstrate through these projects is that earth observation can be a powerful tool to better identify, prepare or monitor the implementation of a project. The Bank currently has other forms of collaboration with other space agencies, such as JAXA, NASA, and NOAA, but these have been so far more circumscribed to specific regions or specific projects.

How do you prioritize the key objectives of the “eoworld” programme in short and long term? How should this programme be undertaken? What structures and processes can ensure long-term financing? How can the results be evaluated towards bringing about continuous improvements?

The results of the 12 projects should prove that earth observation can be beneficial to the World Bank’s operational work. It will be important to draw all the possible lessons from this first generation of applications, and see where they have been most effective. 12 projects is a “drop in the bucket” given the number of operations the Bank generates every year, therefore it will be very important to communicate the results of the EO applications and to carry out the related dissemination and across our institution.

How did you choose the sectors which will benefit from Earth observation services (water resources management, urban development, agriculture and forestry, natural resources management, and climate change?

Nearly all sectors grouped under the Sustainable Development Network relate to physical transformations, and are hence good candidates for earth observation applications. We wanted to make sure that the partnership with ESA was useful to as many sectors and regions as possible. From about thirty proposals we received from across the Bank, we chose the most promising candidates.

Which parameters will be used to demonstrate the value of these services as useful tools to World Bank teams in the planning, implementation, monitoring and assessment of their ongoing and future projects? (How in your vision EO services will help to i.e, “Agricultural production must increase by 70 per cent to feed 9 billion people by 2050”?

We should not be overly ambitious: each Bank development project tries to provide some improvements, be they to the state of conservation of a natural resource, or to the livelihoods of the local population, or to the economic output of a given sector or location. Results can only be achieved incrementally. Measuring results can certainly be much improved with the use of earth observation, especially when they are related to the physical transformation of the environment, or to its protection.

Overall, how do you see Earth Observation services as potentially useful tools in providing a wide range of information to support the monitoring and management of World Bank projects? How will the World Bank ensure the access to and develop the capacity to use all types of space-based information in support of sustainable development projects? How can this kind of support be organised in the future?

We will see a real increase in the use of earth observation services only when Bank project teams will understand more clearly the benefits of using this technology and consequently will allocate financial resources to purchase the related EO services on the market, from the funds for project identification, preparation and monitoring. I am sure that when the World Bank demand for EO services will increase, service companies will quickly learn how to support Bank teams with their products and expertise.

COOPERATION & PARTNERSHIP WITH EO INDUSTRY

What role EARSC, the European service industry association can play to help the World Bank activities? How EARSC can work with your unit to improve programme’s operations and get industry more involved? Would a joint initiative be appropriate to raise awareness and improve performance?

We already have a link to EARSC on our earth observation web-page www.worldbank.org/earth observation , where colleagues from across our institution looking for more information on the topic can reach out and see what kind of market offerings are available. For starters, it would be good if EARSC facilitated the link in the other direction, so that EARSC web-site visitors could familiarize themselves with the development work of the World Bank, especially in the sustainable development sectors.

How can regional-based service providers, which mainly are real small but highly innovative companies, be better integrated in such a development and cooperation projects?

The World Bank is a highly decentralized institution, and we have field offices that carry out a very large share of the technical work related to project identification, preparation and implementation supervision. This means that for many operations most of the decisions are taken in the field. However, procurement of specialized services, such as Earth Observation services, would be always conducted on an international basis; therefore the location of the firms would not be a constraint in any way.

FUTURE & SOCIETY

At the end of the interview, we would like to ask you for your overall recommendations on the future development of the geo-information service sector, and would like to ask to give some hopefully positive messages to the members of EARSC

I was personally very impressed by the impact that some EO applications had on a large study that I was managing recently, and I think that the on-going program of collaboration with ESA can really go a long way in demonstrating the potential of EO to many more teams and colleagues across the Bank. I am positive that in the next few years we will see a significant increase in the use of EO in the context of our development projects. So my message to EARSC members is to be on the look-out for more requests coming from the World Bank in the near future!

Biography
Anthony Gad Bigio is a Senior Urban Specialist with the Sustainable Development Network of the World Bank, and has been managing investment projects, studies and programs in the areas of cities and climate change, post-disaster infrastructure reconstruction, housing policy reforms, slum upgrading, urban poverty reduction, urban air quality management and historic cities preservation for over fifteen years. He has completed in June 2011 a major regional study on “Climate Change Adaptation and Natural Risk Preparedness in the Coastal Cities of North Africa” focusing on the cities of Alexandria, Casablanca and Tunis and on the Bouregreg Valley in Morocco, which included the use of EO applications provided by ESA. He is currently coordinating the World Bank – European Space Agency partnership aimed at mainstreaming the use of Earth Observation in the development operations financed by the World Bank. He is a Lead Author for the forthcoming 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and holds a Masters Degree summa cum laude in Architecture and Urban Planning from the University of Rome.

PDF: interview-mr-anthony-bigio-senior-urban-specialist-sustainable-development-network-world-bank

The AGM day organised by EARSC held on June 30 in Brussels was very successful with a morning session looking at GMES Space and Policy following the AGM itself. In the afternoon, we looked at the market perspectives providing an analysis of the current situation of operational EO value added services and the associated geo-information business.

Close to 50 participants attended this year’s AGM. One of the seminar´s main strengths, warmly acknowledged by attendees, proved to be the open discussions in the morning on topics as GMES long-term funding commitment, regulatory framework, governance structures and challenges… or during the afternoon the dialogue mechanisms within other associations and discussing the future opportunities for the Service Industry within other markets.

Member´s participation in this event was of enormous value and EARSC would like to express its warmest appreciation for that.

PROGRAMME
10h20 – 10h45 Networking coffee
  SEMINAR on ”GMES and Space Policy”
10h45 – 11h00 Opening Seminar by Geoff SAWYER, EARSC Secretary General
11h00 – 11h15 Speech by Karl VON WOGAU, Secretary General Kangaroo Group, Honorary Member European Parliament
11h15 – 11h30 GMES and opportunities for EO businesses by Josef ASCHBACHER, ESA GMES Space Office
11h30 – 11h45 Climate Change service to support a greener growth more compliant with the target 20/20/20 by Nathalie CRESTE-MANSERVISI, Climate Strategy, EC
11h45 – 12h00 GMES Initial Operations: overview and pespectives by Josiane MASSON, GMES Bureau, EC
12h00 – 12h15 EU Space Industrial Policy by Gaëlle Michelier, Space PolicyUnit, EC
12h15 – 12h45 Discussion: Q & A
12h45 – 13h30 Buffet Lunch
  SEMINAR on “The EO services industry for tomorrow”
13h30 – 14h30 Round Table on EO evolution (Discussion 1, Chaired by Stephane Israel, EARSC Director)
13h30 – 13h45 Horizon Scanning by Chetan PRADHAN, EARSC Director
13h45 – 14h00 EO data market, implications for services by Adam KEITH, Euroconsult
14h00 – 14h15 Commercialization of EO research by J. Styles, Assimila
14h15 – 14h30 Discussion
14h30 – 15h00 Networking coffee
15h00 – 16h15 Round Table on market synergies (Discussion 2, Chaired by Chetan Pradhan, EARSC Director)
15h00 – 15h15 ESA Value Adding Element: Future Opportunities by Steve COULSON, ESA-EOMD
15h15 – 15h30 Challenges for the Geobusiness market by GMES, Galileo and INSPIRE by M. Fornefeld – Micus Consulting
15h30 – 15h45 The GNSS industry is ready to contribute to GMES by Gard UELAND, Galileo Services
15h45 – 16h15 Synthesis & Outcome

MARKET DEVELOPMENT

Our first market development priority this year is focused on International Financial Institutions and on April 12th, our secretary general visited the World Bank along with a delegation of 25 European service providers led by ESA. The goal was to initiate 12 projects selected under the ESA EOMD programme where service providers are engaged directly in WB projects and for EARSC to show how it could help in developing stronger links in the future. The World Bank welcomed the participation of EARSC and encouraged us with the idea that we can act as a neutral facilitator to help broker future opportunities.

Meanwhile, Eopages is nearing the point where it will go live and an early version was shown to the World Bank. This new brokerage platform will help potential customers find suppliers whilst service providers will be able to promote their products. Watch out for a mail that invites you to enter your own product promotional material. Some entries are already being made. In conjunction with the World Bank visit we gathered 12 examples of products that could be used in development projects and these are all being converted into an eopages form.

Our second priority for 2011 is the oil and gas industry and improving links with the EO service provider Community. The OGEO working group, where EARSC provides the secretariat, is guiding the initiative under the chairmanship of Richard Eyers at Shell. As well as developing stronger links between the two industry sectors (through meetings and workshops) we are putting in place a Community tool and seeking to establish a joint industry project. The OGEO web-portal will be available later this summer.

POLICY DEVELOPMENT

We published a position paper on “Exploiting GMES Operational Services”. This has been widely distributed and well received. It raises three key issues for the future for which we plan to develop more detailed proposals. The first priority is linked to the implementation of a data policy for GMES and a workshop is being planned. Those interested to join the working group on this topic should inform the secretariat and keep June 17th in mind as a possible date on which a workshop could be held in Brussels.

INTERNAL ACTIONS

Quality Scheme: Please also note that we are anticipating with ESA the possibility to hold a workshop in the previous afternoon ie 29th June starting at around 16h00 on the topic of certification and standards. ESA has been carrying out some work on this topic and it is planned to present this to the workshop before seeking reaction and views through an open interaction.

Data licensing: Would members be interested in a workshop organised to discuss aspects of EO data licensing and distribution? It could help legal advisors become familiar with EO data issues and look/share at best practice across the various service providers. This wk could also be an exchange with US companies and legal specialists.

RELATIONSHIP

In April, meetings have been held with Eurogi, Nereus, ERRIN, ESOA and Eurospace. In a wider field, we also met with the US Alliance for Earth Observation and the Centre for Spatial Law (Kevin Pomfret). We are exploring ways to work more closely with all these groups and as an example we are invited to present the Association to the ERRIN transport group when they next meet in May and we are discussing with the CSL to organise a workshop to look at the legal aspects and share best practise across the atlantic on data licensing. For information, Nereus and ERRIN both bring together representatives of European regions; Nereus focused on space users and ERRIN on research and innovation.

EARSC has been invited to be a member of the Joint Advisory Board for two EC sponsored GMES networking projects Graal and Doris. Our Secretary General will participate to the first meeting on June 9th.

FORTHCOMING MEETINGS

AGM: 30th June Brussels

EARSC AGM will take place on 30th June in Brussels. This year EARSC will organize after the AGM, two separate seminars, the morning seminar is dedicated to the “Current status of operational GMES” while the afternoon seminar will be focus on the “EO service markets”. Key stakeholders will be invited to give an overview of these topics. There will also be a buffet reception giving an opportunity for more informal discussions with EARSC Members including the Executive Board. If for any reason you will not be able to attend the Annual General Meeting and want to have your position represented, please do not forget to give the power of representation by the mean of a proxy. EARSC is also opening an invitation to its members to participate by nominating candidates for Directors.

EARSC will be present at the following workshops:

When Event Role By Venue
09-11 May 2011 Global Space and Satellite Forum EARSC presentation Vice-Chairman Abu Dhabi, UAE
12-13 May 2011 Let’s embrace space – FP7 space conference 2011 EARSC presentation Secretary General Budapest, Hungary
24 May 2011 ERRIN Transport Group Meeting EARSC participation Secretary General tbc
26-27 May 2011 FP7 Space and GMES Initial Operations Symposium: opportunities and networking 2011-201 EARSC presentation Secretary General Lisbon, Portugal
30 May-02 June 2011 31st EARSeL Symposium: Remote Sensing and Geoinformation not only for Scientific Cooperation Key note Secretary General Prague, Czech Republic
09 June 2011 DORISNET-GRAAL Joint Advisory Board EARSC representation Secretary General Brussels, Belgium
12-14 June 2011 International conference, space security through the transatlantic partnership EARSC participation Prague, Czech Republic
29 June 2011 Seminar EO quality scheme EARSC members Members Brussels, Belgium
30 June 2011 EARSC AGM EARSC participation Members Brussels, Belgium

INFORMATION DISTRIBUTED

Email Ref. data Issue
20 March 2011 EC consultation on the preparation of a new Communication on an Industrial Policy for the Security Industry
4 April 2011 EC Communication “Towards a space strategy for the EU that benefits its citizens”
4 April 2011 EARSC Position Paper: Exploiting GMES Operational Services
4 April 2011 Towards a space specific industrial policy / food for thought paper from the European space industry
4 April 2011 Risk Assessment for Disaster Management
7 April 2011 Space in the EU / Eurospace newlsetter 1-2011
7 April 2011 SWIFT E-News n°16
8 April 2011 EC communication on space / ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
12 April 2011 EEAS on a Concept for Air Operations / Contribution of Space
12 April 2011 EU approach to the ITU WRC12 / issues relevant for space policy
14 April 2011 EOmag 25
20 April 2011 draft wp2012 FP7-Environment / Space related aspects

EDITORIAL
This note is produced by EARSC; it aims at providing its members with a synthesis of EARSC news and activities. Issues will be monthly or bi-monthly, depending on developments. More information at secretariat@earsc.org

GIS and allied technologies help in planning for, monitoring and responding to disasters, as well as in effecting reconstruction, from aerial and ground surveys, to spatial analysis for planning community rebuilding or even relocation in extreme cases.

Occurrence of a disaster is often the first indication that insufficient geospatial data or models exist that could have helped in either pre-disaster planning or in response and mitigation.

One obstacle is funding – governments around the globe are loathe to invest in geodata collection and modelling, especially in these economically difficult times, unless necessary. Sadly, it takes a disaster and the accompanying economic consequences – not to mention loss of human life – to raise geospatial technology
requirements (data, models, expertise) higher up the funding ladder.

MapAction, the specialist emergency mapping service, sent a team of mapping specialists to Haiti. Using GIS, MapAction was able to provide a dedicated, easy to understand, realtime mapping service to all other humanitarian aid missions in the area. In the disaster zone, MapAction team members, equipped with GPS units and satellite phones, survey the area, working with rapid assessment teams from United Nations and other relief agencies. In 2010, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between GISCorps and MapAction, highlighting the mutual interest of the two organizations in providing GIS assistance to communities affected by disasters throughout the world.

Original article Published by: GeoConnexion

GIS and allied technologies help in planning for, monitoring and responding to disasters, as well as in effecting reconstruction, from aerial and ground surveys, to spatial analysis for planning community rebuilding or even relocation in extreme cases.

Occurrence of a disaster is often the first indication that insufficient geospatial data or models exist that could have helped in either pre-disaster planning or in response and mitigation.

One obstacle is funding – governments around the globe are loathe to invest in geodata collection and modelling, especially in these economically difficult times, unless necessary. Sadly, it takes a disaster and the accompanying economic consequences – not to mention loss of human life – to raise geospatial technology
requirements (data, models, expertise) higher up the funding ladder.

MapAction, the specialist emergency mapping service, sent a team of mapping specialists to Haiti. Using GIS, MapAction was able to provide a dedicated, easy to understand, realtime mapping service to all other humanitarian aid missions in the area. In the disaster zone, MapAction team members, equipped with GPS units and satellite phones, survey the area, working with rapid assessment teams from United Nations and other relief agencies. In 2010, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between GISCorps and MapAction, highlighting the mutual interest of the two organizations in providing GIS assistance to communities affected by disasters throughout the world.

Original article Published by: GeoConnexion

Satellite images could be used to track and quantify long-term recovery efforts in regions stricken by natural disasters.

But longer term recovery — including the rebuilding of infrastructure and amenities such as schools and hospitals — can take decades, depending on the extent and the location of the disaster.
Now, a group based at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, working with industrial partners Cambridge Architectural Research Ltd. and ImageCat Inc., says it has developed the first systematic approach to monitoring and evaluating this process. The method, which has been submitted to Disasters journal, involves tracking a region using high-resolution satellite images, which have become more abundant and affordable in recent years.

A recovery monitoring system could improve coordination and decision-making, and warn if the reconstruction is not going according to plan, say the researchers.

“Analysing past recovery processes will also allow us to identify examples of good and bad practice and to provide ‘lessons learned’ to stakeholders that can hopefully be applied to future and ongoing responses,” Brown said.

Their approach is to integrate satellite data into 13 ‘performance indicators’ such as length of roads and distribution of housing. Data is then compared with on-the-ground reports collected from household surveys and interviews with recovery workers. The method is based on two case studies, in Pakistan and Thailand, which are documented in the team’s report, ‘Disaster Recovery Indicators’, aimed at policymakers and released last year.

Original article Published by: AlertNet

The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) participated in the IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation held in Berlin (Germany), presenting the advances made by the UAE in space and satellite systems since the launch of DubaiSat-1 in 2009.

EIAST delegates briefed the symposium on the ongoing preparations for the launch of DubaiSat-2, the second satellite mission under EIAST’s Space Programme.

The symposium held during 4-8 April 2011 was organised by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) with the support of German Aerospace Centre (DLR) to promote exchange of information, explore new concepts, encourage international cooperation in mission planning, and develop collaborative relationships among individuals and institutions.

Engineers Suhail Al Dhafri and Mohammed Wali who represented EIAST at the symposium gave a round-up of the Space Programme and its achievements in transferring critical satellite technology to the UAE to complement ongoing development.

“While improving our capabilities in protecting our resources and planning sustainable development, DubaiSat-1 has brought the UAE into a league of countries with advanced knowledge of satellite imaging. EIAST is keen on our engineers leading our programmes and initiatives as it is critical to achieving the knowledge transfer and culture of innovation which we seek to promote,” said Mr Ahmed Al Mansoori, Director General, EIAST.

“The 8th IAA symposium gave us an opportunity to present the capabilities of Dubaisat-1 and its optical payload performance to the Small Satellite community worldwide. We were also able to convey the benefits of our determination and continued success in space activity for the UAE and beyond,” commented Suhail Al Dhafri.

Mohammed Wali added: “The responsibility of building awareness on our satellite activity at such high profile forum like the IAA Symposium was indeed a great opportunity and honor. We are happy that we were able to detail our progress on DubaiSat-2 at the gathering.”

DubaiSat-1 images play a vital role in infrastructure development in the UAE by providing spatial information essential to decision-making on urban and rural planning, transport, utilities, mapping, and environmental conservation. Its relatively high spatial resolution complements existing Geographic Information System (GIS) databases and enables more efficient monitoring and prediction of natural hazards such as sandstorms, land degradation, desertification and droughts.

Following the success of DubaiSat-1 EIAST is currently preparing to launch DubaiSat-2 and preparations have now reached the Critical Design Review (CDR) stage after completing preliminary design reviews. The second mission will be a totally new design developed by EIAST and Satrec Initiative of South Korea and it will produce higher and better quality image data.

Source