If you are having trouble viewing this email, please open the web view

The ESA Φ-lab Newsletter #9 | June 2023

FOCUS ON WE MAKE FUTURE 2023

Dear Φ-lab community,

This issue of our newsletter comes hot on the heels of We Make Future, held in Rimini in Italy from 15 to 17 June. As the biggest digital and social innovation festival in Southern Europe, WMF has established itself as the go-to event for developing and accelerating innovation in Italy and around the world. ESA has enjoyed a major presence at the gathering since 2020, and this year’s edition featured a popular ESA booth of over 60 sq m with exhibits that included activities, products and mock-ups from Φ-lab. The multitude of visitors to the booth comprised enthusiasts, start-ups and companies among others, with each taking the opportunity to interact with Φ-labbers and other ESA representatives. Attendees were also treated to a dedicated interview on the Main Stage with Head of Φ-lab Explore Office Pierre Philippe Mathieu regarding Earth observation (EO) and new digital tech.

A key initiative at this year’s event was the ESA-WMF AI4EO Call. The competition concerned applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and data processing in aerospace and EO and aimed to reaffirm the value of these sectors in international development and the protection of our planet. The winning applications were announced at a dedicated ceremony, with the first-prize winners garnering a trip to the ESA EO Commercialisation Forum in October, where they will participate at an ideas-pitch session. Other prizes included access to business and technical coaching on EO and a subscription to the Sentinel Data Hub.

On a separate note, you may have noticed some changes to the newsletter. As well as a new, fresher layout, we have now added an auto-reader feature. Click on the Play button in the pop-up and enjoy eyes-free access to the text when you are on the move.

The Φ-lab team

LATEST FROM THE LAB

AI4EO WORKSHOPS

10-11 May - Φ‑lab hosted two workshops related to AI-powered Earth observation. First up was AI4EO for Natural Hazards Management, an initiative related to the SeasFire project. Speakers presented applications of Deep Learning for predicting and monitoring disasters such as wildfires, volcano eruptions and landslides. The following day’s gathering was the Self-Supervised Learning AI4EO workshop, which drew on the findings of the RepreSent research. Φ‑lab’s Alistair Francis and Luke Camiller also presented talks on ambiguous labels and the Phileo foundation model.

ESA VISIT TO ENTERPRISE IRELAND

15 May - This event in Dublin provided an opportunity for ESA to showcase the merits of Earth observation for society and commercial enterprises. A number of Irish companies attended, and Head of the Invest Office Michele Castorina gave a presentation on Φ‑lab's investment support. Treemetrics Ltd and Techworks Marine, two companies that have benefited from the InCubed programme, also participated.

2ND ESA SECURITY CONFERENCE

16-17 May - ESA and the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) organised the latest ESA Security Conference at the Palais d’Egmont in Brussels. The event explored ESA’s current and future contribution to both Europe’s welfare and international peace and security. Andrea Tullj represented Φ‑lab during the proceedings and was able to network with companies in sectors including maritime, an emerging point of focus for ESA InCubed. Andrea also established contacts with several Italian government officials in the defence arena.

INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM COMPUTING SCHOOL

9 June - Φ‑labber Alessandro Sebastianelli presented a session on QC4EO, as part of CINECA’s Introduction to Quantum Computing course. The session covered Φ‑lab’s vision for quantum computing, together with examples of activities and collaborations, and then finished up with a case study and live coding hands-on exercise that were greeted with great enthusiasm by the participating students.

CLIMATE CHANGE AI SUMMER SCHOOL 2023

22 June - Casper Fibaek ran a tutorial at the Climate Change Summer School on using AI and EO data for climate issues. The lecture first looked at the measurement of population distributions and habitation types, and then went on to discuss how AI can enable Copernicus Sentinel-1 mapping of surface water based on Sentinel-2 data. The combination of these datasets allows us to directly evaluate the human impact of phenomena such as floods and water reservoir levels.

MYEUSPACE COMPETITION/ENTREPRENEURSHIP DAY

27-28 June - The myEUspace competition was set up by the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) to support the development of innovative commercial solutions, such as mobile apps or hardware, that leverage data from Galileo and/or Copernicus. The winners were announced at EUSPA headquarters in Prague, and Michele Castorina was in attendance to present opportunities for commercial operators at ESA, along with facilitating an investor matchmaking session.

New call released for UK InCubed proposals

The latest ESA InCubed call for the United Kingdom was issued in April. UK entities were invited to submit proposals seeking to develop innovative and commercially viable products and services that exploit the value of Earth observation.

Additional commercialisation innovation opportunities for Portugal with InCubed

After confirming their support to ESA InCubed at the 2022 Ministerial Council, Portugal and ESA are announcing a new call for co-funding innovative Earth observation (EO) business cases.

Register for ESA’s first Earth observation commercialisation event

Registration is now open for ESA’s first-ever Earth Observation Commercialisation Forum. Taking place at ESA Headquarters in Paris from 30 to 31 October 2023, investors, institutions, entrepreneurs and companies of any size from the Earth observation sector will now be able to come together and discuss the commercial potential and challenges of Earth observation, together with the technical, industrial and risk-capital support available to European companies.

MYEUSPACE DAY

27-28 June - The myEUspace competition was set up by the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) to support the development of innovative commercial solutions, such as mobile apps or hardware, that leverage data from Galileo and/or Copernicus. The winners will be announced at EUSPA headquarters in Prague, and Michele Castorina will be in attendance to present opportunities for commercial operators at ESA, along with facilitating an investor matchmaking session..

AI FOR GOOD GLOBAL SUMMIT 2023

6-7 July - The AI for Good Global Summit is a UN platform promoting AI to advance health, climate, inclusive prosperity and other global development priorities. Pierre Philippe Mathieu will talk at a session on tackling climate change, while AI Ecosystem Manager Sabrina Ricci will take part in a workshop on geospatial AI and also present an ESA challenge.

EUROPEAN SUMMER SCHOOL ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

24-28 July - Organised by EurAI and TAILOR, this event at the University of Ljubljana will include over 30 courses and tutorials presented on seven parallel tracks. Φ‑lab will present two sessions, including one on AI4EO and another on flood mapping and impact assessments using Copernicus data sets.