The Commonwealth Secretariat and the Government of Azerbaijan have signed a landmark joint declaration in Tonga aimed at enhancing climate action in Small Developing Island States (SIDS) and other vulnerable member countries.
This historic agreement underscores both parties’ commitment to addressing the urgent challenges posed by climate change, particularly in regions most susceptible to its effects.
As part of this initiative, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has also been signed between the Azerbaijan Space Agency, Azercosmos, and the Commonwealth Secretariat. This MOU focuses on the utilization of geospatial information to support climate action across Commonwealth member countries.
By harnessing the power of space technology and geospatial data, this partnership aims to bolster climate resilience, improve disaster preparedness, and support sustainable development.
Speaking at the signing ceremony at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, highlighted the significance of these agreements ahead of the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP29, to be hosted by the Government of Azerbaijan in November.
The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, said: “This collaboration with Azerbaijan represents a critical step forward in our collective efforts to combat climate change and protect vulnerable communities. Through innovative solutions like geospatial technology, we can enhance our ability to monitor environmental changes and implement effective climate strategies.
“We thank the Government of Azerbaijan for partnering with the Commonwealth Secretariat to bring awareness and finding solutions to a serious global threat, but acutely so for small and vulnerable states.”
Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 President-Designate and Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Government of Azerbaijan, welcomed the partnership that will further advance efforts of Small Developing Island States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 President-Designate and Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Azerbaijan, said: “Azerbaijan is committed to contributing to global climate action, and through the Joint Declaration and MOU with the Commonwealth Secretariat, this collaboration reinforces the COP29 Presidency’s commitment to amplifying the voices of the least developed countries and small island states. Through this collaboration, we aim to inform and guide climate policies across Commonwealth countries, addressing the unique challenges faced by these vulnerable nations and strengthening their resilience in the run-up to COP29 and beyond.”
These agreements mark the beginning of a strengthened relationship between the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Government of Azerbaijan, aimed at creating a more sustainable and resilient future for all Commonwealth countries.
In an exclusive conversation Dr. Rick Spinrad, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere & NOAA Administrator sheds light on the crucial role of partnerships, space systems, and geospatial technologies to fight against climate change.
Pollution, Climate Change, and biodiversity loss have been recognized as triple planetary crises at the Cop28. What is the NOAA outlook to tackle all of these using advanced tech solutions?
First, let me say that tackling these challenges is core to NOAA’s mission. For more than 50 years, NOAA has been on the leading edge in efforts to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems, wildlife, and resources, and to conduct critical research on the atmospheric and oceanic processes that drive our climate system. And part of our efforts involves researching and deploying advanced technologies.
For marine biodiversity loss, NOAA is involved in projects related to using passive and active acoustics, remote sensing via satellites and drones to monitor species. We are also deeply involved in the development and release of the National Aquatic eDNA Strategy, which will advance efforts to better understand aquatic life.
Using these new tools and others, NOAA is providing the observational and monitoring data necessary to track our progress in solving these crises.
Caribbean – CARICOOS – The US Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS)
For instance, since 2014, NOAA’s Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) on behalf of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) and partner agencies (NASA, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Office of Naval Research) – has led interagency and non-federal partnerships to establish and sustain the US Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON).
The MBON represents the sort of global, collaborative effect needed to collect and share marine life and biodiversity information necessary to ensure that decision-makers are informed. NOAA is also a core contributor to the White House’s Natural Capital Accounting of Ecosystem Services effort.
This work will help us understand and consistently track changes in the condition and economic value of land, water, air, and other natural assets and build them into a system of accounts that would be presented alongside other national statistics such as the Gross Domestic Product.
Integrating social scientists and other practitioners is an important part of developing and implementing new advanced solutions to the issues of pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss.
These diverse perspectives help us to better understand the impacts to society of these critical challenges, and how they map back to NOAA services and observations that are already in place. NOAA has teamed up with NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the World Wildlife Fund to create a research consortium, the Collaborative Network for Valuing Earth Information, or CONVEI.
CONVEI will investigate how our agencies serve society from socioeconomic perspective, strongly considering how we can better support underserved and vulnerable, or frontline, communities.
Technological solutions will also play a pivotal role in tackling these challenges and NOAA will continue to lead a holistic approach from observations and research to tech deployment to working to make sure decision-makers have the information they need.
Modeled after the National Climate Assessment and written by federal, university and other leading scientists, the assessment will take a holistic approach to better understand the role of nature in the lives of people across the country, integrating science with traditional ways of knowing the needs of communities.
What role can the convergence of geospatial data and AI play in more precise weather monitoring and predictions?
NOAA is investing in AI in a variety of ways. With respect to weather monitoring and predictions, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) recently added AI to its global climate monitoring dataset which improves the accuracy of NCEI’s surface air temperature reconstruction.
For the new version, NCEI scientists created an artificial neural network method that replaces the traditional empirical orthogonal teleconnection approach for the surface air temperatures over land and the Arctic Ocean.
This new method improves the accuracy of surface air temperature reconstruction. Improvements were larger in the Southern Hemisphere—especially Antarctica—and larger before the 1950s, which is directly associated with the availability of observations.
NOAA has recently signed an MoU with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to boost innovation for advancing climate resilience across blue and green economies. What do you think are the key challenges in the path of sustainability and resilience?
While there are certainly challenges ahead, I’d like to think of the opportunities. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we have historic investments which NOAA has been able to invest to build a climate smart, climate ready, and climate resilient nation.
These funds have allowed us to provide a direct injection of resources into our coastal communities through funding and technical assistance for capacity building, transformational adaptation and resilience planning, conserving and protecting fisheries and other critical resources, creating quality climate-ready jobs, and improving delivery of climate services to communities and businesses, all with a focus on environmental justice. With so much interest in building resilience, it can be a challenge to know just how much action is ongoing across the federal government.
This is why partnerships are vital. For instance, NOAA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Trademark Office aimed at encouraging innovation that advances NOAA’s goal of creating a climate-ready nation.
A key part of this is patenting new tools and technologies to monitor and track the climate as well as mitigate climate change. Together we’re finding ways to leverage the expertise across the U.S. government to advance climate resilience.
NOAA has launched its satellite this summer called GOES-U. What can we expect with this launch?
Like our other GOES-R Series satellites, GOES-U will provide advanced detection and monitoring of atmospheric, oceanic, climatic, solar and space data and phenomena that directly affect public safety and our nation’s economic prosperity.
GOES-U will be placed into the GOES East position once it reaches orbit and will monitor weather systems and environmental hazards affecting most of North America, including the continental United States and Mexico, as well as Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west coast of Africa. GOES-U will carry the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), which is the primary instrument on all of the GOES-R Series satellites for imaging Earth’s weather, ocean and environment.
It will also carry the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), which was the first operational lightning mapper flown in geostationary orbit when NOAA’s GOES-R Series launched. The satellite will also have something new onboard–the Compact Coronagraph-1 (CCOR-1). CCOR-1 images the solar corona (outer layer of the sun’s atmosphere) to detect and characterize coronal mass ejections.
CCOR-1 will help space weather forecasters detect and predict hazardous geomagnetic storms, which are the costliest type of space weather events and can cause widespread damage to power grids, satellites, and communication and navigation systems.
Tell me more about how NOAA satellites help save lives around the U.S. as part of a satellite assisted search and rescue network?
NOAA’s satellites, which are part of a network of U.S. and international satellites called COSPAS-SARSAT, helped save more than 350 lives in 2023.
These satellites carry specialized technology that detects distress signals from emergency beacons. NOAA SARSAT is an integral part and founding member of the international humanitarian search and rescue system called Cospas-Sarsat, which includes 45 nations and two independent search and rescue organizations.
The NOAA SARSAT system uses GPS technology in medium earth orbit as well as NOAA satellites in low-Earth orbits and NOAA’s GOES satellites in geostationary orbits to detect and locate distress signals from emergency beacons from aviators, mariners, and land-based users in distress. When an emergency beacon is activated, the signal is received by a satellite and relayed to the nearest available ground station.
The ground station forwards the signal to the U.S. Mission Control Center (USMCC) in Suitland, Maryland. The USMCC processes the distress signal and alerts the appropriate search and rescue authorities to who is in distress and, more importantly, where they are located. As of March 29, SARSAT has already helped rescue 53 people in the U.S. and its surrounding waters in 2024.
Un Secretary-General addresses schoolchildren in Tonga | United Nations/Chiara Worth
In an address to the opening of the 18-Member Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga, Mr Guterres said that the Pacific “is a beacon of solidarity and strength, environmental stewardship and peace.”
Celeste Saulo joined Mr Guterres at the Forum, to bring attention to how climate change and associated sea-level rise is impacting Pacific islands, and to highlight the need for Early Warnings for All as a crucial climate adaptation tool.
The Pacific Islands Forum also provided the backdrop for the inauguration of a new weather radar at Tonga’s Fua’amotu International Airport; a new weather app to inform the local population of impending hazards; and a new booklet in the Tongan language to encourage children to become disaster champions. These are all in support of the global Early Warnings For All initiative and the Weather Ready Pacific programme.
The new radar is the result of collaboration between New Zealand’s Met Service and Tonga’s National Meteorological and Hydrological Service and is funded by New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade. It will help fill gaps in basic observations and forecasting data and enhance severe weather forecasting in the Pacific, a critical step to helping communities prepare for, and respond to, severe weather.
New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Winston Peters, Met Service Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hunt, Sefanaia Nawadra Director-General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), and Hon. Fekita ‘Utoikamanu Minister for Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communication were among those attending the ceremony.
Weather radar installed in Tonga | Met Service New Zealand
Multi-hazard early warnings
Tonga, like other Pacific Islands, is impacted by a multitude of cascading hazards, as highlighted by the 2022 eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano. This unleashed a basin-wide tsunami and sent vast amounts of water vapour into the atmosphere, affecting the global climate.
A minor earthquake occurred during the UN Secretary-General’s visit to a school.
“Just as I was talking to children and young people in Tonga today about the importance of disaster preparedness, we experienced an earthquake,” Mr Guterres posted on LinkedIn. “Thanks to early warning systems, we were soon informed that there was no threat of a tsunami. These tools are vital for so many – in the Pacific and beyond,” he commented.
A new Tonga Mobile Application for Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Response, known as MACRES, was launched by Celeste Saulo as part of the drive to promote multi-hazard early warnings.
The app is a direct response to the volcanic eruption and tsunami of 2022 and the request for assistance by Tonga to WMO and the Climate Risk Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Secretariat.
Funding was provided through the CREWS Accelerated Support Window to develop the Tonga MACRES application—an essential tool for community-based multi-hazard early warning and response.
“The development of Tonga MACRES is a testament to the ingenuity and resilience of the Tongan people. It was created by Tongans, for Tongans, and tailored to address the unique challenges faced by this island nation,” said Celeste Saulo.
Tonga MACRES is designed with inclusivity in mind. It ensures that warnings and alerts reach a broad audience, including those with disabilities, through prominent visual and accessible features. Furthermore, its crowdsourcing capabilities allow communities to provide real-time reports on hazards and damage, empowering local decision-makers with valuable, on-the-ground information.
“At its core, the purpose of Tonga MACRES is to save lives, minimize property damage, and build a more resilient Tonga. By delivering timely and accurate information directly to communities, this application will enable proactive measures that protect people and their homes,” said Celeste Saulo.
Tonga Warning App | WMO
Cope Initiative
A new book from WMO and the COPE initiative on disaster champions, in the local Tongan language, was released by Mr Guterres during his visit to schoolchildren.
It seeks to enhance children’s understanding of climate change and extreme weather and disaster risk reduction and equip them with the knowledge and skills to reduce risks and respond effectively to disasters.
COPE is a series of illustrated, not-for-profit storybooks created in 2018, aiming to increase the disaster resilience of children globally, especially those living in less advantaged areas.
The books cover natural hazards ranging from floods to earthquakes, wildfires to cyclones, storm surge to tsunami. The books provide coping tools, preparedness, and relatable stories in an imaginative way that is easy to understand.
The books have been distributed in 40 countries, more than 3 million children have had access to the series.
WMO has been contributing to the COPE initiative in the following aspects:
WMO serves as a scientific advisor, promoting a creative, narrative, collaborative, and contextually sensitive educational approach to disasters that highlight key messages that are easy for children to remember such as EVACUATE for floods or DROP COVER HOLD for earthquakes.
WMO also encourages its Members to use COPE material in formal and informal education about climate change and sustainability.
To better spread knowledge, COPE series are all provided free of charge, without any copyright restrictions.
Translations including sign language for disabilities
The inclusion of disabilities and children’s rights perspective has been carefully vetted by experts at UNICEF, East Asia and Pacific. The COPE team creatively integrates sign language across the narratives via an ongoing partnership with the University of Brazil, and the use of Brazilian Sign Language.
Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the infrastructure engineering software company, today announced the finalists of the 2024 Going Digital Awards.
The annual awards event honours the extraordinary work of Bentley’s global users, showcasing how innovative software enables the advancement of the world’s infrastructure for better quality of life. This year, 36 finalists, across 12 categories, were selected from over 250 nominations submitted by organizations in 36 countries.
Representatives from the finalist organizations will present their projects to a panel of 34 independent judges, to determine the award winners. Winners will be revealed on October 9, during the 2024 Going Digital Awards event, held at the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver.
“Infrastructure is essential. It connects us locally and globally, supporting our society and economic growth and development,” said Kristin Fallon, chief marketing officer, Bentley Systems. “This year’s Going Digital Awards finalists represent an impressive mix of international projects pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on land, at sea, and underground.
These programs highlight engineering genius; they showcase the teams of infrastructure professionals that are unlocking the power of data with AI, digital twins, immersive visualizations, and more, to make modern life possible. We applaud and celebrate each finalist for their outstanding achievements to make better, more resilient critical infrastructure for an improved quality of life.“
The finalists in the 2024 Going Digital Awards are:
Bridges and Tunnels
JMT — Digital Experience for 1-95 Rappahannock River Crossing Construction Project, Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States
QK4, — Going Digital Survey with Bridging Kentucky, Kentucky, United States
Tecne Systra-Sws Advanced Tunneling Sri— Digital Implementation in Tunnel Assessment and Rehabilitation, Italy
Construction
PT Hutama Karya (Persero) — Navigating the Complexities of Jakarta MRT Phase 2A CP203 with Digital Solutions, Jakarta, South Jakarta, Indonesia
Webuild p.a. — 4D Modeling and Construction Management for a Pedestrian Steel Bridge Erection in the New ENI Headquarter Complex in Milan, Italy, San Donato Milanese, Lombardia to Milano, Italy
Proicere — SPRS Retreatment (SRP) Sellafield, Seascale, Cumbria, United Kingdom
Enterprise Engineering
Arcadis — A Blueprint for Transforming Project Delivery Through Automation, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Mott MacDonald and HDR — Ontario Line — Information Management, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Amey — Core Valley Lines (CVL) Transformation – South Wales Metro, UK, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
Facilities, Campuses, and Cities
Guangdong Airport Authority — Digital Innovation Application of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Phase III Expansion Project, Guangzhou, China
PT Wijaya Karya (Persero) Tbk — Nusantara Presidential Complex, New Capital City of Indonesia, Nusantara, Indonesia
China ENFI Engineering Co., — Digital Construction Project of Comprehensive Garbage Treatment Facilities in Xiong’an New Area, Beijing, China
Process and Power Generation
MCC Capital Engineering & Research Incorporation Limited — Integrated Application of BIM Technology in the design, Construction, Operation and Maintenance of the World’s First Hydrogen Metallurgy Engineering Demonstration Project, Hebei, China
WISDRI Engineering and Research Incorporation Limited — Digital Innovative Applications throughout the Process of Iron and Steel EPC Projects, Wuhan, Hubei, China
PowerChina ZhongNan Engineering Corporation Limited — Digital Twin of Shandong Energy Group Bozhong Offshore Wind Farm Site A, Dongying, Shandong, China
Rail and Transit
SPL Powerlines UK — Midland Main Line Electrification, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Notting Hamshire, Derbyshire, and South Yorkshire; United Kingdom
Transport for London — The Elizabeth Line, London, England, United Kingdom
INECO — Master Design Stage RBDTD-LV-DS3 North Latvian Section, Latvia
Roads and Highways
China Road and Bridge Corporation, China Highway Engineering Consulting Corporation — Phnom Penh — Bavet Expressway, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
WISDRI Engineering & Research Incorporation Limited — Wuhan Gaoxin 4th Road Comprehensive Reconstruction Project, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) — Digital Twin Implementation for NLEX-SLEX Connector Road Project, Caloocan to Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines
Structural Engineering
Hyundai Engineering Co., — New Physical Modeling Method for Plant Steel Structures Using STAAD API, Seoul, South Korea
Arcadis — Advanced Analysis and Design of Flood Protection Structures through Automation, New York City, Indianapolis, and Dallas; New York, Indiana, and Texas; United States
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited — Enhancing Urban Connectivity—The Punjabi Bagh Interchange, New Delhi, Delhi, India
Subsurface Modeling and Analysis
Data forensics — USACE Ground to Cloud — Enterprise Data Management Migration, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Spark and WSP — North East Link Central Package, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
PT Hutama Karya (Persero) — Integrating Subsurface Model for Efficient Geotech Data Management in Trans Sumatera, Pekanbaru, Riau, Indonesia
Surveying and Monitorinq
Monir Precision Monitoring – Samantha Ford — 31 Parliament Street Urban Infrastructure and Excavation Shoring Monitoring, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Water Supplies Department — Digital Twin of the Ex-Sham Shui Po Service Reservoir, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
China First Metallurgical Group Co., Ltd. — Application of Intelligent Construction Technology in the Construction of Comprehensive Improvement Project for the Outlet Reach of Fuhuan River, Wuhan, Huebei, China
Transmission and Distribution
Southwest Electric Power Design Institute , Ltd. of China Power Engineering Consulting Group — Full Life Cycle Digital Applications of Butuo +800kV Converter Station, Liangshan, Sichuan, China
COPEL Distribuiçâo S.A. — Implementation of BIM Modeling for Medium- and High-voltage Substation Projects, Curitiba, Paranà, Brazil
Exo — Ohio Falls River Crossing Towers, Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Water and Wastewater
Beijing Shougang International Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., Wanhua Chemical (Penglai) Co., Ltd. — 300,000 Tonnes/Day Seawater Desalination Project of Wanhua Chemical (Penglai), Ltd., Yantai, Shandong, China
L&T Construction — Uttar Pradesh Tube Well Project under Jal Jeevan Mission, Uttar Pradesh, India
Basic Sanitation Utility Company of the State of Sâo Paulo – Sabesp — INTEGRA 0 Cultural Transformation Through Digitalization, Säo Paulo, Brazil
Esri India, the country’s leading Geographic Information System (GIS) solutions provider, today announced the latest edition of its flagship conference, The Esri India User Conference (UC), to be held on 5th & 6th September in Delhi, 10th September in Hyderabad and 12th September in Kolkata.
The theme of the conference is ‘GIS — Mapping a Better Future’. As India’s largest GIS conference, Esri India UC will bring together GIS professionals, thought leaders, influencers, and key figures from the geospatial industry.
At the Esri India User Conference, organizations from across the country will demonstrate how GIS technology can fortify national resilience by improving preparedness, reinforcing infrastructure, advancing public health, and empowering communities to navigate environmental challenges.
The event, through powerful keynote sessions, engaging technical workshops and demos, enriching paper presentations, and a vibrant exhibition area will address how GIS, in convergence with emerging technologies such as digital twins, artificial intelligence, and IoT, is playing a vital role in solving the pressing social and business challenges the country is facing today.
The collective insights gathered will allow us to holistically understand interconnected challenges through advanced visualization and analysis, enabling the creation of solutions for critical social, business, and environmental issues.
Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India said, “GIS serves as a crucial enabler of the future we all want to see. With GIS technology, we can unravel complex issues such as climate change, sustainability, and social inequity—and thereby discover where to take action. Fortunately, today organizations are rapidly welcoming GIS to enhance every sphere of their lives. From infrastructure development to enabling rightful/responsible use of utilities, communities are transforming themselves by adopting a geographic approach. The Esri India User Conference is an empowering opportunity to stay connected to the vibrant and innovative GIS industry; and as the GIS community connects here, we strive to create a robust GIS ecosystem, that powers business decisions, supports government operations, and creates a better world.”
The Esri India User Conference will feature a wide array of insightful discussions, including dynamic plenary sessions, focused tracks on the developments in ArcGIS technology, and user presentations showcasing the latest innovations and best practices in GIS technology adoption.
Esri’s Dawn Wright Answers Questions About the Next Critical Geographical Challenge Scientists Face
Ocean waters cover 70 per cent of our planet, and yet just one-fourth of the seabed has been mapped in high resolution to date. If we don’t fully understand how the ocean works, we can’t protect it (or ourselves).
That’s why distinguished oceanographer and chief scientist of Esri Dr. Dawn Wright has dedicated her life to exploring the ocean, studying its biology and geology, and mapping its depths.
How can mapping the ocean floor inform our understanding of what happens on the surface?
We now know that the planet’s surface is made up of tectonic plates, major and minor, that ride on top of Earth’s mantle—essentially a layer of hot roiling rock. The plates fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, but, because the mantle is moving, they don’t stay put: They’re constantly shifting, sliding, and grinding into one another.
The seams between them, where they collide or push apart, are known as faults. Just like on land, where a sudden slip along a fault can cause an earthquake, undersea faults are hot spots of geologic activity, generating earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on the Earth above. But high-resolution seabed maps can help scientists predict catastrophic events like these before they happen.
SpilhausPlates: A map showing the major tectonic plates rendered in the Spilhaus projected coordinate system, which effectively shows the global ocean as one interconnected system. (Cartography by Cooper Thomas, Esri. Data by Peter Bird, Hugo Ahlenius/Nordpil)
Tsunamis come about as a result of a movement on the floor of the ocean that’s expressed in a fault. That’s why we need to monitor those fault zones, but even more importantly, we need to understand the shape of the seafloor in coastal areas where tsunamis occur.
The ocean is a potential resource for energy that doesn’t rely on fossil fuels. How can seabed mapping bolster initiatives for emerging alternative energy technologies?
We’re looking more to the ocean now for energy—wave energy, for instance, or wind energy. And we are setting wind turbines on the ocean floor. So we need to know what the ocean floor looks like—which areas are flat, for instance, and what is the composition of those areas.
Siting wind turbines involves a host of other considerations. Among those is ensuring that the turbines won’t harm endangered marine species, such as the North Atlantic right whale. With the right geospatial data, we can begin to answer crucial questions, such as, how do we ensure that while building out this renewable energy source we are also preserving the right whale?
How are we going to know that the wind will be there in 30 years? Accurate maps and spatial models can guide scientists to make the best decisions for our energy needs as well as for the ocean ecosystem.
Speaking of preserving marine ecosystems, we rely on the ocean for much of our sustenance. Do maps provide a pathway towards sustainable fishing practices?
According to the Nature Conservancy, fish and other seafood products provide essential nutrients for more than 3 billion people around the globe. Much of that much-needed protein is swimming around the ocean floor, especially near seamounts, so we need accurate mapping to monitor and protect the habitat of those fisheries.
SpilhausRoutes : A Spilhaus projected coordinate system map with purple lines representing global shipping density. (Cartography by Cooper Thomas, Esri. Data by IMF’s World Seaborne Trade monitoring system [Cerdeiro, Komaromi, Liu, and Saeed, 2020])
If scientists have a clearer picture of life beneath the surface, they can do a better job of managing marine fish resources, making sure that local fish stocks aren’t depleted, and protecting vulnerable species from overexploitation. Almost 90 per cent of global marine fish stocks are already fully exploited or overfished, according to the World Bank, so this is an urgent problem that accurate ocean mapping can help address.
Of course, protecting marine habitats has value over and above its immediate utility to humans. An estimated 50–80 per cent of all life on Earth is swimming, crawling, and wriggling beneath the surface, and scientists have identified only about 250,000 species so far—with as many as 2 million more still to go.
Much of your work and writing focuses on the crucial importance of the ocean to the issue of climate change. How is seabed mapping part of the solution to this daunting challenge?
Coastal inundation (flooding) poses a significant threat to millions of people around the world, especially in small island nations, and that threat will keep rising as sea levels rise. The global mean sea level has risen about 21–24 centimetres (8–9 inches) since 1880, a trend that is accelerating as the Earth heats up, melting huge glaciers and ice sheets.
This is bad news for people living in densely populated coastal areas; in the US alone, that’s almost 30 per cent of the population.
If scientists have good information about the shape of the seafloor and the nature of the coastline, they can more accurately predict how inundation will affect low-lying areas—and take measures to protect those coastal communities before it’s too late.
(DISCLAIMER: This is an excerpt from Dr Dawn Wright’s upcoming new book “Mapping the Deep: Innovation, Exploration & the Dive of a Lifetime,” from Esri Press. This has been published with due permission from ESRI.)
UP42, the Earth observation platform, announced a partnership with Planet Labs PBC, a global provider of daily satellite imagery and solutions. This collaboration significantly expands UP42’s optical data portfolio with the integration of Planet SkySat, the world’s largest constellation of high-resolution Earth observation satellites.
With 15 SkySat satellites in orbit, Planet offers one of the most frequent revisit capabilities in the commercial sector, capturing insights multiple times per day at 50 cm resolution.
UP42’s platform allows customers access to Planet high resolution, high cadence data, including sub-daily collections in some areas. UP42 customers will also benefit from a standardized ordering process, harmonized data formats through STAC, scalable API ordering, and advanced processing capabilities for both archived and new images.
The partnership also highlights UP42’s unique tasking solution, which offers advanced order tracking, automated delivery, and support for complex Areas of Interest (AOIs).
“True to their mission to make global change visible and actionable, Planet has been revolutionizing the Earth observation industry for years,” said Jussi Koski, CPO of UP42. “Our partnership with Planet underscores our commitment to provide our customers with high-resolution data for their projects by expanding our portfolio of data providers and platform capabilities.”
Planet’s high-quality data enables informed decision-making in a variety of sectors and applications, including:
Energy and infrastructure monitoring
Vegetation management
Precision agriculture
Monitoring transportation and urban infrastructure planning
Environmental protection, forestry, and land use
Emergency and security applications
“Our SkySat constellation provides timely delivery data to identify blind spots, anticipate events, and give customers confidence in their next mission-critical decision,” commented Mark Jeffrey, Partner Business Manager at Planet. “The partnership with UP42 provides geospatial application and solution developers with the high-resolution data they need when they need it.”
In an interview with Geospatial World, Michael Raam, CEO of etherWhere explains the challenges, solutions and etherWhere’s future directions.
etherWhere offers low-power geolocation solutions with many patented technologies for a variety of applications including wearables, asset and livestock tracking, avionics and automotive. Recently, etherWhere raised funding of $16.3 Million led by Cambium Capital, Walden International and a US-based strategic investor.
What are the existing challenges in GNSS technology around the globe?
The invention of GNSS enabled a plethora of new and exciting applications and use cases, but the demanding nature of these applications has encountered cracks and shortcomings in the traditional architecture of GNSS over time.
Examples include car navigation in urban environments where multipath interference makes positioning and navigation challenging. Battery-operated tracking devices require very low power and innovative solutions to push the device’s life beyond 3-5 years.
The field of avionics and the military are witnessing tremendous jamming and spoofing of the GNSS signal in many theatres around the world, even in areas where there are no conflicts. Another use case of GNSS technology is in precise timing where networks, wired or wireless, are reliant on accurate and low jitter, jamming and spoofing proof reference clocks.
At etherWhere, we have innovative technologies and patents to address many of the above uses with point solutions. Many of these solutions require some type of customization to optimize customer experience and etherWhere offers this expertise.
With so many cases of jamming, spoofing and manipulating the GNSS receivers, how can modern technology help in finding a long-term solution?
Jamming and spoofing of GNSS signals has become more of an issue in recent years due to global conflicts. These battles have created issues not only for military assets but also for commercial avionics. etherWhere has two solutions to resolve the jamming of GNSS signals.
The first is a patented adaptive multi-antenna ArrayNav technology that drastically reduces jamming and eliminates multipath and increases channel-to-noise ratio even beyond what CRPA technology is capable of.
The second solution etherWhere is working on is a Hybrid-Constellation technology where in addition to the 4 main GNSS constellations, the technology also detects and processes commercial LEO satellite Signal of Opportunity (SOP) to create redundancy and resilience. These LEO satellite systems have an order of magnitude stronger signal that penetrates, even in some indoor environments.
The combination of ArrayNav and Hybrid-Constellation provides anti-jamming, anti-spoofing, resilient and redundant PNT solutions for defence as well as commercial applications. These product offerings from etherWhere can be cost-optimized, based on the requirements of each application, such as automotive, avionics, commercial drones, etc.
How can nations develop resilient PNT solutions for mission-critical infrastructure?
For mission-critical applications, nations need to develop solutions that are not dependent on a single technology. Relying on one satellite system for PNT is susceptible to jamming and destruction.
Redundancy and resilience are key to protecting the infrastructure. Employing anti-jamming technology and engaging multiple GNSS and commercial satellite systems drastically improves the odds of a functioning infrastructure, even in the presence of malign activities.
Tell us about AccuWhere Cloud technology, its unique solution and how are you planning to spend the recent investments?
The patented AccuWhere Cloud is an all-inclusive cloud offering. Unlike other existing cloud solutions, AccuWhere is not dependent on additional sources of information.
The net result is ease of use for the end customer, benefiting from faster Time to First Fix, lower battery consumption, and higher sensitivity.
etherWhere is dedicated to innovation and improving customer experience. Most of the funds raised will be deployed towards realizing the rich roadmap of next-generation products involving low-power performance silicon, multi-antenna technology and widespread use of the AccuWhere cloud.
AiDash, an enterprise SaaS company making critical infrastructure industries climate-resilient and sustainable with satellites and AI, announced the opening of its new global headquarters, located at 575 High Street in downtown Palo Alto.
This strategic expansion will help foster innovation by enhancing collaboration with Silicon Valley’s tech ecosystem. The opening of the new space will also support widespread, long-term growth as AiDash seeks to hire across all functions.
AiDash has already made its first executive hires to be based out of the Palo Alto office. New Head of Product for the AiDash platform, Rafael Kabesa comes from OpenAI’s Product Management team — he remained with OpenAI after it acquired his previous company, Rockset. Kabesa has also held senior product positions at Salesforce and Okta, as his career has spanned executive roles in product management and software engineering.
He is known for building and scaling products, diving deep into complex challenges to create solutions with modern technology. Kabesa embraces data-driven methodologies and a deep understanding of user needs to develop products that users truly love.
Marina Len Clements joins AiDash as its new VP of Legal. Coming from Mural, Clements is known for working with innovative companies that deliver elegant solutions to challenging problems. She will work cross-functionally across teams at AiDash to support company growth and product development by providing insightful legal counsel and building processes that will scale operations globally and take advantage of new opportunities.
“Establishing our global headquarters in Palo Alto is about more than opening a new building. We are putting a stake in the ground,” said Abhishek Vinod Singh, CEO and Co-founder of AiDash. “We are here to stay and want to grow amid the brightest minds in technology and environmental science. We chose this space for our home base, out of any other location in the world, because it is at the epicentre of the world’s most cutting-edge tech companies with whom we can partner and because it is a hotbed for talent, thanks to its proximity to top universities.”
Strategically established near Stanford University, AiDash plans to use its new headquarters to tap into top AI and engineering talent and lean into the latest climate research coming out of the Doerr School of Sustainability. AiDash is also opening new channels with other nearby campuses engaged in climate research and training the next generation of leaders.
AiDash is actively ramping up its hiring efforts amid soaring demand for its satellite-first solutions that make critical infrastructure more resilient to the negative impacts of a changing climate. It plans to add more than 25 people across all functions in its new corporate headquarters by the end of the quarter, expanding further in 2025. The company has more than 150 customers worldwide and has been more than doubling its annual recurring revenue (ARR) every year since the company’s inception in 2019.
On the inaugural National Space Day, President Draupadi Murmu delivered an inspirational speech celebrating India’s achievements in highlighting the successful landing of the Vikram Lander near the Moon’s southern polar region as a testament to India’s technological prowess and scientific advancements.
ISRO’s Vital Contributions
ISRO’s remarkable strides in space exploration, as recent as evidence of Chandrayaan-3’s initial scientific findings have solidified the long-held theory that the moon was a molten rock ocean shortly after its creation. This conclusion is based on 23 chemical analyses of lunar soil conducted by the Pragyan rover during its two-week mission near the moon’s South Pole.
The President lauded ISRO findings saying,” ISRO has achieved tremendous things including recently uncovering evidence of a former magma ocean near the Moon’s South Pole by the Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan Rover strengthening the belief that initially the Moon was completely an ocean of magma. It gradually cooled down and moved towards its present form. In scientific language, this is called the Lunar Magma Ocean Hypothesis.”
Private Sector Involvement & International Collaboration
The President also discussed the significant growth in India’s space program, driven by the involvement of the private sector. She highlighted achievements like Agnikul’s launch of a single-piece 3D printed semi-cryogenic engine-powered rocket, marking a new milestone in space technology. Additionally, she noted that India’s space program has strengthened international relations, as evidenced by the successful launch of the South Asia Satellite GSAT-9 in 2017.
“The opening up of the space sector to the private sector has led to a rapid increase in the number of start-ups,” she said. “The space sector is also a good medium to increase trust and partnership in international relations.”
Addressing the Space Debris Challenge
Space Debris, mostly consisting of discarded spacecraft parts and other objects, poses a serious threat to operational satellites. To ensure the sustainability of space exploration, ISRO is implementing measures to address the challenge.
The President addressed this issue, stating, “Space debris can create problems for space missions. To ensure that space research activities continue uninterrupted, the “ISRO System for Safe & Sustainable Operations Management” facility is being operated. This is a commendable step. I am also happy to know that India is moving ahead to make all its space missions debris-free by the year 2030.”
Beyond Space Exploration and Future Goals
The President emphasized that ISRO’s contributions extend beyond space exploration, playing a crucial role in India’s social and economic development. “ISRO has been an invaluable contributor to the social and economic development of the nation. India’s space mission aims to be self-reliant in the international sector,” she said. These endeavours aim to contribute to the nation’s social, economic, and scientific progress.
She highlighted the impact of the space sector on various fields, including health, medicine, transportation, security, energy, environment, and information technology.
India celebrated its inaugural National Space Day on the 23rd of August, commemorating the historic Chandrayaan-3 mission marking the country’s successful landing on the lunar South Pole, a first for any nation at an event in New Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam.
The inaugural National Space Day was a grand affair graced by the presence of the President of India, Draupadi Murmu, along with the ISRO Chairman, Dr. S Somanath, and the Minister of State for Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh.
India’s Space Vision for the Future
In his welcome address, Dr S Somanath, the ISRO Chairman, emphasized the significance of the Chandrayaan-3 mission and the impact it has had on India’s space program. He expressed his gratitude to the Prime Minister for his unwavering support and vision, which has been instrumental in propelling ISRO to new heights.
He said, “It was on August 23, 2023, that Chandrayaan-3 made history by successfully landing on the Moon, a feat that has forever etched India’s name in the annals of space exploration. At ISRO, we never anticipated the profound impact this achievement would have. It was during a visit by our Honourable Prime Minister to the control centre that the decision was made to commemorate August 23 as National Space Day and to name the Chandrayaan-3 landing site ‘Shiva Shakti Point.”
Dr Somanath also highlighted the importance of collaboration and international cooperation in space exploration and emphasized India’s commitment to playing a leading role in this field. He said, “Today, the nation celebrates this inaugural National Space Day with fervour and enthusiasm and we hope that this First National Space Day will be a day of inspiration, interaction, and collaboration. Let us celebrate our achievements, discuss the challenges ahead, and envision a future where India plays a leading role in space exploration.”
Chandrayaan-3, a Monumental Success
Dr Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State for Space, delivered a powerful speech that resonated with the audience. He highlighted the journey of ISRO, from its humble beginnings to its current position as a global leader.
“Today, as we commemorate National Space Day, we reflect on a journey that began just 55 years ago. ISRO, established in 1969, the same year that the first human landed on the surface of the Moon, has achieved remarkable milestones in a relatively short time. From our humble beginnings, we have now become the first nation to land on the Moon’s South Pole.”, he said.
“When we observe National Space Day, it’s also a day of introspection, reflection, and planning roadmaps for the future. We ponder on how we managed to cover this long journey in a short time and where we go from here.”, he added.
He praised the dedication and hard work of the ISRO scientists and engineers, who have made India’s space program a success.
He commended saying, “This achievement is a testament to the dedication, innovation, and perseverance of the ISRO team. However, it also highlights the crucial role of enabling policies and political leadership. Prime Minister Modi’s visionary approach has liberated ISRO from constraints, allowing us to reach new heights.”
Dr. Singh also emphasized the importance of space technology in addressing various societal challenges and its potential to improve the lives of millions of people as well as how it has contributed to a rise in space startups.
He said, “In the last three years, there’s been a quantum leap. We had just one space start-up three years ago; today, we have almost 300. India’s space economy will grow five times in the next ten years. We are currently at $8 billion and hope to reach $44 billion in the next decade. It is now contributing to various sectors, including agriculture, disaster management, and healthcare. Our expertise in space technology has positioned India as a global leader in this field.”
Bharatiya Antariksha Station, Space Debris and more?
The Minister also commented on the Indian Orbital Station, officially called the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS), which is a planned modular space station to be constructed by India and operated by ISRO.
He said, “Our space station will be operational by 2035. And by 2040, we aim to have an Indian landing on the Moon’s surface. In a few months, one of the four astronauts will accompany counterparts to the International Space Station. Wing Commander Shukla, now promoted to Group Captain, has already been identified for this mission.”
Space technology today has entered every Indian household, adding value through artificial intelligence, machine learning, and quantum technology.
The minister emphasized this by saying, “India has demonstrated its space capabilities in all three verticals: space transportation, ground stations, and platforms. Beyond Earth and the deep sea, we are now reaching the next level—clearing space debris. We’ve set up one of the latest technologies in Bengaluru to detect and clear debris. Soon, we will also begin retrieving decommissioned satellites. By 2047, the space sector will be a key factor in India’s growth story as a developed nation.”
The future of India’s space program is filled with ambitious plans for future missions, including human spaceflight, lunar exploration and space station development.
Nokia and Swisscom Broadcast Partner on Largest Drone Deployment in Switzerland
Nokia and Swisscom Broadcast have teamed up to create Switzerland’s largest Drones-as-a-Service network. This ambitious project will see 300 drone stations strategically placed across the country, enabling rapid deployment of drones for various purposes.
Guidehouse has partnered with Hexagon, a global leader in digital reality solutions, to transform and advance innovation across public sector markets.
“This new partnership with Hexagon represents a significant step forward in our commitment to delivering innovative solutions to the public sector,” said Chris O’Brien, partner and leader of Guidehouse’s Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure segment.
“Combining Hexagon’s cutting-edge technology with Guidehouse’s expertise in public-sector consulting, we aim to deliver comprehensive solutions that solve complex challenges for government agencies to support the entire lifecycle of their assets.”
The collaboration is designed to enhance the operational efficiency, transparency, and performance of government agencies.
From initial acquisition and deployment to ongoing maintenance and eventual decommissioning, the collaboration aims to provide a holistic approach to asset management to support optimal performance and value at every stage.
Key benefits of the Hexagon and Guidehouse partnership include:
Enhanced operational efficiency and data-driven decision-making: Implementing advisory and digital solutions to help optimize workflows and reduce redundancies within government operations, particularly in asset management.
Improved transparency and accountability: Delivering enterprise asset management solutions to promote the effective management and maintenance of government assets from acquisition to decommissioning.
Modernized solutions for mission-critical needs and lifecycle cost management: Using AI-driven analytics to help predict potential asset failures and proactively schedule maintenance, minimizing downtime and operational disruptions throughout their lifecycle.
Optimized lifecycle asset performance: Promoting efficient deployment and integration of new assets into existing systems and workflows and implementing sustainable practices and technologies to enhance the efficiency and environmental performance of assets.
“We are thrilled to partner with Guidehouse to bring our advanced digital solutions to the public sector,” said Robert Sellers, vice president of public sector alliances at Hexagon.
“This collaboration will enable government agencies to harness the power of technology to improve operational efficiency, enhance transparency, and achieve their mission-critical objectives. By focusing on the entire lifecycle of assets, we can ensure that agencies get maximum value and performance from their investments.”
Beyond Gravity has been selected by MDA Space as part of the company’s supply chain for MDA AURORA, a product line driving the transition from analog to digital satellite technology.
Beyond Gravity will provide 252 “constellation On-Board Computers (cOBCs)” with integrated navigation receivers and antennas for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations.
The cOBC provides satellite command & control, reconfiguration and precise GNSS satellite positioning in combination with the provided GNSS antennas.
The unit is highly reliable and optimized for high-volume production. The delivery of the On-Board Computers is set to begin this year. The MDA AURORA supply chain will help support product deliveries for anchor customer Telesat’s Low Earth Orbit satellite constellation Telesat Lightspeed, an innovative, advanced global network that will bring enterprise-class connectivity to customers worldwide.
“We are very excited to collaborate with MDA Space on the development of MDA Aurora and to play an important role in the visionary Telesat Lightspeed mission,” said Oliver Grassmann, Executive Vice President of Satellites Division at Beyond Gravity.
“This contract with MDA Space is a testament to our strategic product development and reaffirms our strong position in delivering innovative and reliable solutions to the commercial space sector as our advanced and proven constellation On Board Computers are essential for satellite constellation missions, ensuring robust performance and reliability,” added Kurt Kober, Vice President of Electronic Solutions at Beyond Gravity.
“This agreement marks a significant milestone for Beyond Gravity’s Electronic Solutions business unit, reflecting the company’s strong position in the commercial space market.”
Designed to meet the changing technical and business requirements of the satellite industry, the software-defined MDA AURORA product line provides operators with unparalleled flexibility and functionality, dramatically enhancing constellation performance at reduced cost and time to market.
In an exclusive interview Amen Ra Mashariki, Director of AI and Data Strategies at the Bezos Earth Fund talks about how he works to identify strategies and solutions that will help environmental justice organizations to use data to solve complex issues.
Environmental justice is an intriguing term. What do you encapsulate with that term and what are the projects currently deployed to catalyze environmental justice from the Bezos Earth Foundation?
There are a lot of ways to think about environmental justice, but from a funding perspective, it is about making sure that organizations that are focused on the ground implementation of solutions have an impact on communities that have historically been left out.
One can think about environmental justice as a wider group of organizations focused on a clear set of values to make sure that as we transition to new energy infrastructures and frameworks, no community is left out.
At the Bezos Earth Fund, we have implemented a few things; to enable the implementation of environmental justice, the organizations should have access to both local and detailed data.
We have funded the ability for a couple of environmental justice organizations to come together and work to build out what we refer to as the Environmental Impact Data Collaborative.
The organizations are working together to surface important data, but they are also working with academic institutions to build a platform to house that data.
Can you please tell me about your time at the White House and the work you did there?
I was a White House fellow and then a political appointee during the Obama administration. At the time we weren’t really doing a good job in the federal government in terms of hiring for innovative tech positions.
During my time, data science was the big buzz and we didn’t have a mechanism for identifying and hiring good data scientists into the federal government in order to use data science to solve a lot of public challenges.
My job was essentially to help leadership across the United States federal government to think through the best mechanisms to deploy, to hire top data scientists, top computer scientists, top technologists, into the federal government.
You previously mentioned that a good analytics solution is 80% about finding the right data. With petabytes of data being generated, be it from satellite or the internet, what kind of analytics is required to sit through usable and relevant data and how can AI help in the process?
More and more data is being created every second, but more complex data is being brought to the table. What we found is that if you have 10 petabytes of data and you do analysis on it, you’re going to get some insight into what’s going on.
Talking about environmental justice, doubling the amount of data doesn’t provide double the amount of insight. At that point you could triple, quadruple or even 10x the amount of data. Still, you’re not going to get that much more insight from it because the analytics itself is limited in what it can find.
But through the power of modern AI, as you double the amount of data and amount of accelerated compute power, the amount of insights and the capabilities that we’re able to glean from this data grows linearly.
The more data we have access to by using AI to analyze, understand, and train on and then make inference on that data, we’ll be able to find linear levels of insight into it.
In the era of Geofencing, where everything is being driven by personalized data, how can we apply principles to it that are both robust and ethical, especially now with generative AI in the picture?
The short answer to that is that we’ve historically been in this space of exposing our data to large organizations that are managing our personal data; whether that’s photos that we put online or content like YouTube videos or blog posts. Even research work organizations themselves function as data repositories that store our data and then use it however they want in this new world.
In order to be ethical, fair, and manage that data correctly, we need to start understanding how we as individuals can manage and have oversight over our own data and share with entities as we see fit, as opposed to just giving it to other entities to do what they want with it. So I think there has to be a more granular.
Geofencing in terms of identifying specific not only areas but even granular spaces. We have to be even more granular in terms of how we’re storing and managing data down to the person.
From your experience at New York City’s data analytics department, what were the benefits of solving problems with data, and what can be the learnings for cities in third-world countries?
What I believe is also the case where it’s applied appropriately; where data, analytics, and AI are applied in a systematic manner. Through this, we were able to partner with city agencies to help them think through four key things.
How can they do their services faster? How can they do this work with scale? Because New York City is a big city and it’s really tough to think through.
It’s easy to think through how you do something, implement some sort of service on a block or in the neighborhood, but how do you do that citywide? So speed, scale, and then we had to work with them to be more accurate and precise in their work.
This is important in terms of providing services for residents. So we work with them and use data to help them meet the four criteria; speed, scale, accuracy, and precision. I think data and analysis and AI provide the key role for these criteria.
You’ve been very vocal about open and accessible data. Can you please talk more about the benefits of open data and the role of technology in it?
Similar to open source, open data does a couple of things. One, it provides a baseline of understanding. It’s the same thing we tend to say in social settings that any argument, any debate has to always start with the same set of facts.
You can’t have two sets of facts and then expect to get to some solution with regard to a debate. So what open data essentially says is as a core baseline for solving any problem, we have to all be working from the same understanding. Open data allows for that shared understanding.
But then also, the data and analytics side, to make sure that we have people who are from these communities that are adversely affected by climate and nature change that haven’t been engaged historically, that solutions have to come from these communities and not only environmental solutions but also the tech and AI solutions have to come from these communities that are affected.
The students, researchers, and even schools that exist in these communities are stepping up to offer solutions. The only way you can do that is by having access to the data that everyone has access to.
The top scientists at NASA have access to data that now these high school researchers in this one community have access to, and that’s what open data does. It connects those pieces such that you can bring more people to the table to provide solutions.
Quoting the Bezos Fund, “solving climate change requires more than lowering emissions”. Being the director of AI and data strategies, how can data aid towards a holistic climate-positive action around the world?
It is a combination of everything that has been mentioned yet. Understanding the problem leads to clearer solutions for solving a problem globally. And we know that these actions have to be taken in partnership with many organizations.
One country and one organization are not going to solve this global issue. All countries and organizations are going to have to solve this, which is why having a clear understanding of what is happening and then partnering up on how to solve that is important. Thus, shared technology and understanding are key here.
What is the roadmap ahead for the Bezos Earth Fund?
We are planning an AI program at the Bezos Earth Fund, where we have just launched our $100 million grand challenge for the climate and AI solutions.
So we are looking to work with and engage with organizations globally who are thinking through how to use AI to solve climate in nature, and really we’re our key focus is on bringing together climate and nature organizations with AI organizations to solve these problems in this decisive decade.
LG Innotek announced that it will partner with Ansys, the world’s top engineering simulation company, to expand the application of ‘Digital Twin’ technology to all its processes.
‘Digital Twin’ is a technology that replicates objects in a virtual space to predict the outcomes of possible real-life situations through computer simulations.
It is heralded as a technology capable of solving various industrial and social problems. In particular, it is being rapidly deployed in the manufacturing industry as it can reduce product development time and costs.
Ansys is known to possess world-leading technology and deployment experience in the field of simulation using 3D modeling, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML). By collaborating with Ansys, LG Innotek will be able to leverage its latest ‘Digital Twin’ solutions and simulation software to build a state-of-the-art ‘Digital Twin’ environment.
In collaboration with Ansys, LG Innotek conducted a trial application of its ‘Digital Twin’ technology to some development and production processes and has achieved tangible results.
In the future, the company plans to expand the application of ‘Digital Twin’ to the development and production processes of its entire product range, including autonomous driving components such as vehicle connectivity and sensing devices.
LG Innotek is reaping the benefits of its ‘Digital Twin’ in R&D. After verifying designs in a virtual environment, the company uses the data to minimize the number of tests that need to be conducted and the time it takes to conduct them.
It applied ‘Digital Twin’ technology to the development of package substrate (PS) products for semiconductors, managing to reduce the development time by 99%.
Substrates require the minimization of ‘Warpage’ due to the heat and pressure to which they are exposed during manufacturing. This is achieved through a simulation process that optimizes the combination of the circuit design structure and materials composition ratio.
Using virtual simulation through 3D modeling, LG Innotek has reduced the time required to predict the degree of ‘Warpage’ of a single substrate from 11 days to 3.6 hours.
LG Innotek has expanded the application of ‘Digital Twin’ technology to not only product development but also the FC-BGA (Flip-Chip Ball-Grid Array) production process.
Using this technology, the company has succeeded in halving the ramp-up period (increase in production capacity by enhancing yield in the early phases of mass production) by establishing optimal conditions for the FC-BGA production equipment.
In the past, the company had to conduct hundreds of tests to identify the optimal FC-BGA process conditions, which relied heavily on time and money. Using 3D modeling, it has replicated the FC-BGA production process in a virtual space.
Running the process in a virtual space enables the computer to visualize and identify problems that could occur with various process equipment. This makes it possible to meticulously optimize conditions, such as the flow of liquids, heat, and air that cannot be measured inside such equipment.
In addition, LG Innotek has managed to increase productivity by actively using ‘Digital Twin’ in the production process of electronic vehicle components. Since electronic vehicle components have a long product lifespan and are highly vulnerable to the weather, ensuring quality and reliability is crucial.
LG Innotek applied ‘Digital Twin’ technology to the soldering process, which is a key process for ensuring the reliability of electronic vehicle components. The soldering process was simulated in a virtual space to predict the time it takes for the solder to crack.
By optimizing process conditions such as the amount of solder applied and nozzle design to delay cracking as much as possible, the company plans to increase productivity by 40% compared to the previous process.
Through its partnership with Ansys, LG Innotek plans to rapidly expand the use of ‘Digital Twin’ technology to all product lines and processes, including new growth businesses such as vehicle communication modules and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) devices.
In the future, the company plans to expand the use of ‘Digital Twin’ technology to customers and partners across the entire value chain, from development to production.
As a result, partners and customers will be able to collaborate on product design and simulate the efficiency of production processes on the virtual ‘Digital Twin’ platform built by LG Innotek.
All of the data generated in the virtual space will be collected in real time and used to improve product design and customer processes. All data from LG Innotek, its partners, and customers will be organically connected and shared in real time, enabling systematic quality control and efficient development.
Furthermore, AI will be applied to the virtual design and quality process verification to increase simulation speed and accuracy. AI will learn from the data collected through simulation to derive optimal solutions and support decision-making by engineers. LG Innotek believes the productivity gains will be multiplied by combining the strengths of virtualization and AI technology.
LG Innotek Chief Technology Officer S.David Roh said, “The future we envision at LG Innotek is meta-manufacturing, where simulation results from a virtual space are linked to physical production facilities and automatically lead to actual production.” He added, “To this end, we will rapidly apply advanced ‘Digital Twin’ technology to the entire value chain, including R&D, production, and quality control, to create differentiated customer value.”
Morocco has solidified its intelligence capabilities by acquiring two state-of-the-art Earth observation satellites from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
The deal, valued at roughly $1 billion, marks a significant step towards enhancing Morocco’s ability to monitor its borders, respond to threats, and manage natural disasters.
The new satellites, known as Ofek 13, are equipped with cutting-edge Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology, enabling high-resolution imaging in any weather condition.
This advanced capability will provide Morocco with valuable data for a range of applications, including border security, disaster management, and land use planning.
The acquisition of these satellites is part of a broader defence partnership between Morocco and Israel, which has been strengthening in recent years. This strategic alliance underscores Morocco’s commitment to modernizing its military and ensuring national security.
UbiVu delivers immediate data on the status of utility infrastructure during storms, facilitating the detection of downed poles and enabling emergency response teams to plan and prioritize effectively.
Ubicquia announced the launch of its Storm Response and Vegetation Encroachment Reporting powered by UbiVu AI models. The solution offers real-time insights and analytics designed to help utilities accelerate their response to severe weather events and vegetation encroachment.
“Ubicquia changes the game by providing comprehensive in-storm visibility and root cause analysis, enabling faster, more efficient responses.” Manny Miranda, Next Level Energy Services.
The digital integration between CNH and CropX will enable data collected by CASE IH and New Holland machines to be displayed and used within the CropX agronomic farm management system for improved precision and sustainability.
CropX and CNH Industrial announced a new application programming interface (API) connection between the CropX agronomic farm management system and Case IH and New Holland Agriculture equipment.
This integration automates the transfer of data from CNH machinery to CropX for data visualization, record-keeping, planning, and variable-rate applications.
The datasets transferred from Case IH and New Holland equipment encompass a wide range of activities, including planting, application, and harvesting, with the specific data varying by equipment type.
This information is then displayed on tables or maps that can be overlayed with other data layers, allowing farmers and agronomic advisors to easily extract valuable agronomic insights.
Additionally, the connection enables the creation of variable rate application maps for fertilization and seeding using advanced agronomic tools within the CropX platform.
“This API between CNH and CropX leverages the strengths of both companies to significantly benefit farmers,” says Tomer Tzach, CropX CEO.
“The vast amount of data collected by farm machinery is incredibly valuable. Bringing that data into the CropX system makes it accessible and meaningful, driving farm efficiency and sustainability.” Tzach continues, “Data connections are crucial for digital farming solutions. At CropX, we prioritize integrations with data sources that strengthen our system and greatly benefit farm operations.”
“Enhancing data connectivity allows our customers to get more value from the data that CNH machinery collects,” says Dan Danford, CNH Precision Technology Partner Manager.
“Making it easy for our customers to utilize their farm data in the CropX agronomic farm management system also creates a more intuitive precision agriculture user experience. This empowers operators to expand their productivity with more confident data-driven decisions.”
CropX now has APIs with the two largest manufacturers of farm machinery, CNH and John Deere. This integration adds to a growing list of farm equipment partners.
Consolidating all farm data into one user-friendly platform allows for the generation of even more powerful insights and actionable advice, enhancing overall farm management and productivity.
Ah, GEOINT. The mysterious acronym that’s been buzzing around like a swarm of GPS-equipped bees. But what exactly is Geospatial Intelligence, you ask? Simply put, it’s the art of combining geographic data with other information to create a detailed picture of our world.
Think of it as a high-tech version of connect-the-dots, except instead of revealing a cute bunny, you might uncover a hidden military base or a secret stash of resources.
In today’s unpredictable geopolitical landscape, GEOINT has become the ultimate tool for defence and civilian applications alike, helping decision-makers navigate the twists and turns of global events with the finesse of a satellite-guided ballerina.
Here are my key trends shaping the future of GEOINT, with an emphasis on recent technological advancements and their practical applications. Who knows, by the end of this article, you might just be inspired to start your own GEOINT startup and take over the world (or at least your neighbourhood)!
Multi-Domain Integration
Multi-domain integration in GEOINT refers to the seamless fusion of data and capabilities across various operational domains—land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. This integration allows for a comprehensive and cohesive operational picture that enhances decision-making and operational effectiveness.
One of the best examples of multi-domain integration can be seen in modern military operations, where advanced geospatial technologies and intelligence are leveraged to create a unified view of the battlefield. During the Ukraine conflict, the integration of commercial satellite imagery, open-source intelligence, and real-time data from social media and traffic apps (e.g., Google Traffic) provided early warnings of Russian troop movements.
This multi-domain approach allowed for rapid response and strategic planning.
Space-based Persistent Surveillance and Reconnaissance
Persistent surveillance and reconnaissance are the pinnacle in GEOINT and involve continuous monitoring of areas of interest, providing a steady stream of real-time data that enhances situational awareness and operational effectiveness. This capability is crucial for detecting changes, identifying patterns, and delivering timely intelligence for strategic and tactical decisions.
One prime example of spacebased GEOINT is the use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites. Unlike optical satellites, SAR satellites can capture high-resolution images under any weather condition and during nighttime. This capability was notably utilized during the Ukraine conflict to monitor troop movements and infrastructure changes, even through cloud cover and darkness.
Space-based Disaster Response and Management
Another significant application of space-based GEOINT is in disaster response and management. After natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, or floods, satellites equipped with optical and radar sensors can quickly assess damage and monitor recovery efforts.
This real-time information allows governments and humanitarian organizations to efficiently deploy resources and coordinate relief operations. For instance, satellite imagery played a crucial role in assessing the damage and planning emergency responses following the 2020 Beirut explosion.
In May 2024 devastating floods in Brazil caused widespread destruction and displacement. Spacebased GEOINT was instrumental in managing the crisis. Satellites provided real-time imagery and data that tracked the progression of the floods, identified the most affected areas, and assessed the damage to infrastructure.
This information was crucial for disaster response teams to allocate resources effectively, plan evacuations, and deliver aid to those in need. The integration of SAR satellites allowed for continuous monitoring despite heavy cloud cover, ensuring that response efforts were well-informed and timely.
The growing significance of space as a contested domain has accelerated advancements in space-based GEOINT capabilities. Satellites equipped with high-resolution imaging sensors, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and various remote sensing technologies deliver vital intelligence for both strategic and tactical purposes. Space-based GEOINT is crucial for tracking missile launches, monitoring space assets, and maintaining comprehensive space domain awareness.
Advanced Geospatial Analytics
The rapid advancement of Large Language Models (LLMs) such as GPT-4, Claude, and others has opened new possibilities for advanced analytics in GEOINT. These powerful AI models can process and interpret vast amounts of unstructured data, including text, images, and even geospatial information, providing valuable insights and intelligence.
The rapid advancement of Large Language Models such as GPT-4, Claude, and others has opened new possibilities for advanced analytics in GEOINT.
These powerful AI models can process and interpret vast amounts of unstructured data, including text, images, and even geospatial information, providing valuable insights and intelligence.
One of the key applications of LLMs in GEOINT is in the automated analysis of text-based data sources, such as intelligence reports, news articles, and social media posts. By leveraging their natural language understanding capabilities, LLMs can quickly identify and extract relevant information, such as locations, events, and entities, from these sources. This automation significantly reduces the time and effort required for manual data analysis, allowing analysts to focus on higher-level tasks and decision-making.
LLMs can also be used to generate human-like text based on input prompts, which has potential applications in generating geospatial intelligence reports. By training these models on a large corpus of existing GEOINT reports, they can learn to produce clear, concise, and informative summaries of geospatial data and insights. This can help streamline the report-writing process and ensure consistency in the format and content of intelligence products.
Another promising application of LLMs in GEOINT is in the integration of multi-modal data sources. Advanced models like GPT-4 can process and understand data from different modalities, such as text, images, and even geospatial data formats. This capability enables the fusion of information from multiple sources, providing a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the operating environment.
For example, an LLM could analyze satellite imagery alongside text-based intelligence reports to identify and characterize activities of interest in each area. The use of LLMs in GEOINT is not without challenges, however.
Ensuring the security and privacy of sensitive geospatial data is a key concern, as is the need for robust data governance and ethical frameworks to guide the development and deployment of these technologies. Nonetheless, the potential benefits of LLMs in advancing geospatial analytics and intelligence are significant, and their adoption is likely to continue to grow in the coming years.
Digital Twins and Smart Cities
Digital twin technology is transforming urban planning and utility management by creating virtual replicas of physical assets, enabling cities to monitor and manage infrastructure more effectively.
This innovative technology is particularly valuable for predictive maintenance, optimizing resource allocation, and enhancing public safety. Smart cities leverage digital twins to improve transportation systems, energy distribution, and emergency response, making urban environments more efficient and resilient.
Cities including New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Chicago are at the forefront of adopting digital twin technology in the United States. Those Cities are implementing a comprehensive digital twin system that encompasses various aspects of urban management.
Integrating data from sensors and IoT devices allows for real-time monitoring of infrastructure, including bridges, roads, and public buildings energy consumption. This system helps the city predict and address maintenance needs before they become critical issues, ensuring smoother operations and improved public safety.
CIVINT (Civil Engineering Intelligence)
Civil Engineering Intelligence (CIVINT) is an emerging field that integrates Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) principles, a deep understanding of Civil Engineering and SUE (Subsurface Utilities Engineering) and techniques such as Non-Intrusive Multi Sensing mapping to support the management and the design of underground utilities.
By leveraging geospatial data, state-of-the-art AI algorithms and domain expertise, CIVINT provides a comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date understanding of the subsurface environment, enabling informed decision-making and optimized operations.
Utility Infrastructure Monitoring
Through the integration of multispectral and hyperspectral imaging, CIVINT can detect anomalies in utility networks, such as water leaks, electrical faults, and pipeline corrosion. This proactive approach to infrastructure monitoring helps prevent costly repairs and service disruptions, ensuring the reliability of critical utilities.
Geological and Geographical Assessments
CIVINT uses Satellite images and geospatial data to assess geological features and geographical changes. This information is crucial for identifying potential natural hazards, such as landslides, earthquakes, and soil erosion. Engineers and geologists can use these insights to design safer structures and develop mitigation strategies for at-risk areas.
Conclusion: The Future of GEOINT – To Infinity and Beyond!
The rapid advancements in technology, including AI, big data, 5G, and space-based capabilities, are driving innovation in GEOINT and shaping its future. As demonstrated in this article, the integration of these technologies is transforming the way we monitor, analyze, and manage our world, with far-reaching implications for both defence and civilian applications.
From multi-domain integration in military operations to space-based disaster response and management, advanced geospatial analytics using LLMs, digital twins and smart cities, and the emerging field of CIVINT, the potential applications of GEOINT are vast and diverse.
These advancements are enabling more efficient, effective, and data-driven decision-making across a wide range of industries and sectors. Looking ahead, we can expect even greater collaboration between government and commercial sectors, as well as continued investment in research and development, to further push the boundaries of what is possible with GEOINT.
However, as we embrace these new technologies and capabilities, it is crucial to prioritize data security, privacy, and the development of ethical frameworks to ensure responsible and sustainable growth. The future of GEOINT is undoubtedly exciting, with the potential to transform the way we understand, interact with, and manage our world.
By harnessing the power of space-based technologies, AI, and advanced analytics, we can unlock new insights, drive innovation, and create a more sustainable, resilient, and prosperous future for all.
Nokia has partnered with Axiom Space to integrate advanced 4G/LTE communication capabilities into the next-generation spacesuits that will be used for the Artemis III lunar mission.
Together, Nokia and Axiom Space will incorporate high-speed cellular-network capabilities in the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU), supporting HD video, telemetry data and voice transmission over multiple kilometres on the Moon. This advancement will enable Artemis III crewmembers to capture real-time video and communicate with mission controllers on Earth while they explore the lunar surface.
Russell Ralston, Axiom Space executive vice president of extravehicular activity, said: “Axiom Space is excited to work with Nokia to build on the advanced capabilities of our next-generation spacesuit. Adding high-speed 4G/LTE network capability on the Moon will serve as a vital bridge linking astronauts to Earth, facilitating crucial data exchange, and enabling high-definition video communication over long distances.”
Nokia plans to deploy the first cellular network on the Moon as part of Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission, which is scheduled to be delivered to the launch site in 2024.
During that mission, Nokia aims to demonstrate that cellular connectivity can facilitate crucial communications during future lunar or Mars missions. Nokia’s Lunar Surface Communications System (LSCS), pioneered by Nokia Bell Labs’ research and innovation, will be deployed during IM-2 and will be further adapted for use in the AxEMU spacesuit.
Thierry E. Klein, President of Bell Labs Solutions Research at Nokia, said: “Just as astronauts will need life support, shelter and food, they will need advanced networks to communicate with each other and go about their crucial work.
Bell Labs has a long history of working on space projects, and Nokia is a leader in designing and building networks that connect the world. We are taking advantage of the same standards-based technologies that connect billions of devices on Earth every day while bringing innovation and technologies to bear on the specific challenges encountered in space.”
The fully autonomous LSCS has two components: a network-in-a-box combines the radio, base station and core network elements of a terrestrial cellular network into a single unit and device modules that will be integrated into the AxEMU spacesuits. Both the network and device modules have been carefully engineered to withstand the extreme environmental conditions on the lunar surface and the dynamic stress of spaceflight, and have been optimized for size, weight and power consumption.
Axiom Space’s spacesuits will provide astronauts with advanced capabilities for space exploration while providing NASA with commercially developed human systems needed to access, live, and work on and around the Moon.
Axiom Space’s development of these next-generation spacesuits and Nokia’s lunar surface communications innovations are significant advancements toward furthering American leadership in space exploration, enabling a deeper understanding of the Moon, the solar system, and beyond.
EarthDaily Analytics announced a contract with MySpatial, a leading Malaysian geospatial mapping specialist servicing the government and private sectors.
The $1.7 million contract, which commenced in July 2024 and has an initial duration of four years, will provide MySpatial and its customers with data and analytics with applications focused on Civil Government, Agriculture, Environmental Monitoring and Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry, Urban and Infrastructure Development, Coastal Monitoring, Defense, Maritime Intelligence, and Enterprise.
Under the contract, MySpatial and its customers have immediate access to EDA’s current offering of high-quality Earth Observation data and scalable, AI-driven analytics. Following the launch of the EarthDaily Constellation (“EDC”), MySpatial has also secured its ability to have prompt access to the EDC’s groundbreaking, differentiated EO and Change Detection offering.
Designed in conjunction with EDA’s SaaS ground segment to be end-to-end optimized for AI, the EDC will collect Analytics Ready Data across 22 spectral bands over all of the world’s land masses and high-value maritime areas from the same angle, at the same time of day, every day.
Don Osborne, CEO of EarthDaily Analytics, commented: “Starting this summer and expanding over time as our EarthDaily Constellation goes into orbit in 2025, we are proud to provide MySpatial with cutting-edge Earth Observation data, AI-powered analytics, and invaluable insights, meaningfully expanding EDA’s presence and reach in a key Asian market. The versatility and reliability of our service offering is borne out by the wide breadth of high-value sectors in which MySpatial and its customers plan to utilize our products to drive better-informed decision-making and improved outcomes. Building on this strong foundation, the 2025 launch of the EarthDaily Constellation will unlock a whole new level of value-added insights, pairing unrivaled EO data collection with the endless scalability and power of our purpose-built AI systems to drive truly differentiated outcomes.”
Basrihuddin Hasan, CEO of MySpatial, commented: “As we work to ensure that our customers across the government and private sectors have access to the best data and insights available anywhere, we are proud to secure this access to the unique and innovative EarthDaily Analytics offering. While we eagerly anticipate the launch of the EarthDaily Constellation in 2025, EDA’s offering today is bringing value-added, high-quality data and AI-enabled analytics to our customers across verticals, while simultaneously cementing MySpatial’s position at the cutting edge of Earth Observation and geospatial mapping in the fast-growing Malaysian market.”
