Engaging with and connecting Australian users of earth observation analytics with South East Asian end-users on the theme of climate, in order to facilitate climate smart innovation through a hackathon and follow-on prototype development activities.
The Challenge
In a unique opportunity, the Earth Observation for Climate Smart Innovation sought to bring together Australian geospatial practitioners and South East Asian counterparts to work together to explore opportunities related to the development of industry-driven geospatial products and services. The project sought to support participants to develop pathways to market for Climate Smart use cases using Earth observation and cloud computing technology using geospatial data, satellite imagery, access to networking, business and commercialisation mentoring, and technical workshops on how to use CSIRO’s Earth Analytics, Science and Innovation (EASI) platform.
Partners
This project would not have been possible without the collaboration between Geoscience Australia, CSIRO and Symbios.
The Solution
The Earth Observation for Climate Smart Innovation project set out to support Australian businesses develop new Open Data Cube (ODC) prototypes for markets in South-East Asia (SE Asia). In order to grow the EO industry and see EO data driving decision making across our region to support climate resilience. This project has achieved these outcomes by supporting three phases of activity. An initial Hackathon that brought together 29 approved participants from across both Australia and Southeast Asia to explore their climate smart innovation ideas with EO science and the EASI platform, across five days of networking, keynote presentations and EASI technical sessions.
Of those who took part in the hackathon, seven groups (composed of 24 individuals) proceeded into Phase 2, where groups undertook an intensive six-week prototype development program of training in user-centred design, EO data sourcing, EASI technical training, business skills workshops, business culture workshops and B2B matching. This culminated in a Showcase event, and of the groups participating in Phase 2, three continued into Phase 3, the final phase of the program which focussed on business concept refinement. Here, groups took greater ownership over their business concepts and how they sought to refine their business case and technological refinement for their climate smart innovation concept. These three groups completed the project with well-rounded ideas for their businesses which they are well-positioned to continue to develop, which have roots in and applications across both Australia and Southeast Asia, and are positioned well to have a positive impact on climate resilience across the region.
Impact
The project has been a significant success in terms of upskilling participants in earth observation science and techniques for climate use cases. The most significant learning curve for almost all participants was grasping the various elements of the EASI platform (EO data, Python Notebooks, large scale processing using Dask and sharing of results). For many of the participants, the skills they learnt through participating in this project have fundamentally improved their capacity to use Earth observation data for climate smart innovation. These impacts will continue to flow into the work they do professionally, particularly in conjunction with the networks they have built across both Australia and Southeast Asia through this project.
Two groups in the project, he DeltaCoast and Saraqube groups, have successfully achieved the aims of this project – to connect Australian capability in Earth observation with Southeast Asian use cases for climate smart innovation. Both projects are interested in further commercialisation, which is a success of the project and will have lasting impacts for both regions.
Contact
To learn more, contact Project Manager, Roshni Sharma, at rsharma@frontiersi.com.au.